Unwanted Travelling
by Airheaded dude
Summary: Naruto is trying an experiment that involves rediscovering the Hiraishin. After months of reading Jiraiya's notes on sealing and some of the stories focused on his father, Naruto has finally done it! Or so he thinks, Konohamaru doesn't quite agree.
1. Hiraishin Hijinks

Unwanted Travelling

Summary: Naruto is trying an experiment that involves rediscovering the Hiraishin. After months of reading Jiraiya's notes on sealing and some of the hints and stories focused on his father, Naruto has finally done it! Or so he thinks, Konohamaru doesn't quite agree however.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Negima, all property and rights of the following series are owned by their respective authors (Masashi Kishimoto and Ken Akamatsu), this is strictly for fan services only.

* * *

Konohamaru looked on to his idol's seals placed on his arms and back. As the said older boy was making some seals on the ground they stood on. Fuinjutsu happened to be an art that Naruto sucked at, so much so, that many of the populace that now adored the blonde couldn't help but let someone watch over him. There was one time Naruto had accidentally let off a sealing technique near the Hyuuga Complex.

Needless to say, Hiashi had him digging up one third of the mansion's right wing while placing his palm on the blonde's back.

Konohamaru sighed, looking at his idol and rival once again who was about close to finishing the seal on the ground. The blonde then giddily went for his jacket and the haori symbolizing his sage status. It had been a while since the war ended, a year had passed and Naruto is now sixteen, had garnered the name as the new Sannin along with Sakura and Sasuke who had surprisingly betrayed Madara at the end now roaming the continent in peace. Naruto had convinced him of a truce between the Uchiha and the Senju and so far, it looked like he wasn't breaking that truce anytime soon.

As Naruto dressed and stepped into the middle circle, he grinned while saying to Konohamaru, "This will be the greatest moment in history, where I, Uzumaki Naruto, will rediscover and improve the Hiraishin!"

Konohamaru seemed to think otherwise though, "Naruto-nii, didn't you say that before you sank a third of the Hyuuga clan's right wing mansion?"

Naruto defended himself, "Shut it, Konohamaru! That was a minor set back! Besides, Hiashi should be grateful I even made a pool at the side of their house!"

"Nii-chan, Hiashi was poised for a Jyuuken strike at your back." Konohamaru deadpanned and then added, "And he has more reasons to do so."

"So Hinata's got a big crush on me, he shouldn't be all protective of his eldest like that!" Naruto countered, Konohamaru began to get frustrated at his idol's reckless attitude.

"Look, Naruto-nii, it's not about that! It's about your projects! Can't you have just created your shadow clones to do the work for you! This is dangerous stuff!" Konohamaru suggested, Naruto looked thoughtful for a second and then grinned sheepishly.

"I forgot about that." Naruto admitted while Konohamaru resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation.

"Naruto-nii, you should really take these things into account, do you even know what you're doing?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto merely smirked as he said to the Sarutobi,

"What do you take me for, Konohamaru?"

Naruto looked at his apprentice and sighed. The last war had changed a lot of people, he was one of them, and Konohamaru was too. For better or for worse, it had made a lot of kids Konohamaru's age mature, they witnessed a lot of deaths and a lot of atrocities, so it was no surprise that Konohamaru would be cautious about his ideas now.

"Trust me, Konohamaru, this would be safe, I've actually thought of a lot of possibilities and the worst is we'd be teleported to a cliff." Naruto chastised his apprentice who seemed unwilling to believe such statements.

Naruto patted Konohamaru's back with a playful grin before putting his hands together for the seal of the ram, as chakra began spreading around the large seal below him and Konohamaru.

The symbols glowed in blue light as small orbs of blue chakra came convalescing at one point, the small orbs gathered, as the bubble like transparent substance grew in front of them. Naruto grinned as the center of the bubble distorted; the spaces around the bubble begin to fold as if it was being sucked in.

"It's working! It's working!" Naruto jubilantly declared, as he grinned seeing the small distortion orb of time and space, Konohamaru had a sudden feeling of something horrible about to go wrong.

The bubble soon began expanding. It got bigger and bigger until its size was comparable with the Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique). Then things started to go horribly wrong.

The bubble of folding space began sucking in like a vacuum, Konohamaru, in response, grappled his feet to the ground with his chakra, sticking him to it as the bubble began sucking matter in.

"Uh oh…"

The words didn't fall on deaf ears as Konohamaru suddenly grew pale at Naruto's utterance. Something was about to go terribly wrong again.

The bubble suddenly grew big its vacuum growing stronger and stronger as Naruto and Konohamaru were slowly dragged into the bubble.

"I thought you said this was going to be perfectly safe!" Shouted Konohamaru as Naruto defensively replied, "Of course we were! This was just… A minor setback!"

"You call this a minor setback, nii-chan? We're being sucked by a giant ball of distorted time and space to who knows where!" Konohamaru replied, both of them were inching closer and closer to the giant ball.

"So I made a small mistake, big deal! It's not like we're being sent through dimensions and are marooned hopelessly in a different world where the laws of our world are defined to a different perspective! Besides, I have the designs to the seal; we can get back to Konoha anytime!"

Konohamaru seemed sceptical, and before he knew it, both of them were instantly sucked in to the bubble before giving a veritable pop.

* * *

Mahora Academy:

In the cold dark of the night, a tiny, small pop was heard into the small forest of the

It was a dizzying sensation when it happened, one moment they were spiralling in a wormhole that looked like everything around them was soup. The next, they were sprawled on the ground, no amount of physical pain present, but a feeling of dread washed the both of them.

Naruto was first to recover, quickly dusting himself as Konohamaru slowly stood up, groaning.

"Ugh, now what happened?" Asked Konohamaru, holding his head at the headache he was about to receive. Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment.

"I seem to have pumped too much chakra and made a mistake in one of the seals that I placed on the ground. I wonder what it could be." The blonde began pacing back and forth, Konohamaru had other thoughts.

"The bigger question is where we dropped on." Konohamaru looked around, Naruto merely grinned as he looked around. He could only see trees.

He grinned.

"Well now, I can safely say that we're still in the Elemental Countries!" Naruto exclaimed with a smile. Konohamaru looked sceptical.

"How can you be so sure, Oyabun (Boss)? Trees don't normally grow this small anywhere in Fire Country."

As if to answer his question, a giant Shuriken was spinning fast as them. It gave a chopping sound in the air as it went straight at them as if the air around itself was being sliced in two.

With an experience of a Kage level ninja, Naruto caught the deadly but impractical weapon with a single hand as he gleefully said to Konohamaru, "See? This is proof enough, isn't it?"

The Shuriken seemed bigger than what they use as the standard size and slimmer too; the edges were more prominent and the blade was probably thicker overall.

"Nii-chan, the Shuriken's design isn't present to any village I've seen as far as I know." Konohamaru deadpanned. Naruto merely shrugged.

"Eh, every village has its quirks. Konoha has a tendency to have most of its famous shinobi psychologically imbalanced (crazy). So it pans out like how Kumo shinobi have a tendency to be excessively violent, look at the Raikage and his brother." Naruto grinned at that and Konohamaru shook his head.

The next they heard though, was a resounding bang as Naruto and Konohamaru simply ducked and Naruto whistled as a small object whizzed past them and embedding itself on the ground.

"Now there's something you don't see everyday." The blonde commented, Konohamaru irately said to his boss, "That's because we don't see something like that in any day at our home!"

"Konohamaru, don't be such a nitpicker, that war changed both of us, I know, I was in the center of it. But don't assume the negative so much! You'll grow old even faster!" Naruto lectured in a brotherly way, Konohamaru was having none of it.

"Naruto-nii, it's obvious we aren't in the elemental countries anymore! The trees are too small, the weapons are too different, and this place is just too uneasy for me!" Konohamaru exclaimed.

Naruto blinked once and then grinned.

"Now that's becoming of a true Konoha Shinobi! You're getting there day by day Konohamaru! You'll be like your grandpa in no time!"

Naruto then beamed at the younger boy until he had heard the sound of rustling leaves.

Someone or some people were nearby.

"Intruders on this campus are severely punished. I would like to know why the two of you are within the premises of an All-girl school like Mahora." Asked the person, coming out of the darkness, revealing skin as fair as any other, long black hair extending to her lower back, and wearing clothes that didn't seem to warm for the cold chill that the night brought, Naruto merely grinned as his apprentice were staring hypnotically at her hips.

"Well, we kind of had an accident while doing an experiment."

The girl raised her left eyebrow at this, "In the middle of a forest? A likely story…"

She pointed two L-shaped hand carried objects that both Naruto and Konohamaru assumed as weapons. Not wanting to start a ruckus, Naruto raised his arms to speak.

"Whoa, whoa, we aren't here to start a fight uhh…"

"Mana" The girl replied

"Mana-chan, we're just lost and we just like to know where we are." Naruto informed, Mana however, seemed unconvinced.

"She did say you were in Mahora, de gozaru." Said a new voice, which dropped below from the branches and wearing a red sleeveless battle gi, complete with fingerless gloves. She had dark green hair and had squinty eyes; she had a laid back smile on her face as she approached the two. What made her outstand however was her incredible rack that Naruto and Konohamaru were staring at unconsciously until the both of them said at the same time.

"**De gozaru?**"

To this, Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other, slowly smiling and then finally letting out an enormous howl in laughter.

"Hahahaha! De gozaru! That is so outdated, nee-chan!" Konohamaru said between laughs, Naruto then added, "Don't tell us you're a Daimyo's daughter!"

The girl however merely smiled and shook her head. Naruto and Konohamaru halted their laughing and stared at the unnamed girl in confusion before grabbing the giant shuriken from Naruto's grasp and saying, "I believe this is mine, de gozaru."

Naruto let go of the giant weapon as the girl hefted it on her shoulders. Naruto scratched the back of his head and Konohamaru's laughs died down.

"So where is this Mahora Academy you speak off?" Naruto inquired, Mana and Kaede looked at each other for a moment and then back at Naruto and Konohamaru.

"It's in Japan."

Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other in silence in utter confusion, as a chilly cold wind passed them by.

"We… Aren't in the Elemental Countries anymore aren't we?" Konohamaru asked hesitantly, Naruto could only nod in agreement.

To this, both gave a big sigh.

A few seconds of silence before Konohamaru spoke up, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, NARUTO-NII, I KNEW THAT SEAL OF YOURS WAS ASKING FOR TROUBLE!"

Naruto however, tried to ease, the keyword try, his apprentice's anger and said, "Now, now Konohamaru, no need to be so angry, I'm sure if we just use the technique again we'll be back to where we came from. That seal on the ground in Konoha also acts like an anchor aside from being somewhat a sensor we can detect."

Konohamaru stared at Naruto for a moment before looking sceptical once again.

Naruto clapped his hand together into the ram seal once again before concentrating his chakra. A small bubble had once again coalesced into the middle of them slowly forming a hole and sucking in the space once again, this time however, the bubble instantly popped.

"Uh oh…" The blonde said for a second time, as Konohamaru scratched his hair in frustration.

"I can't believe this is happening! I can't believe we got stuck here! I can't believe I proclaimed you to be my rival! I can't believe you're the one who ended the Great War!" Konohamaru pointed to Naruto the blonde merely shrugged and laughed a little.

"It looks like that technique was a one way ticket." Naruto embellished. Konohamaru was seriously about to strangle his master but held himself back. Naruto may be laid back but he was a great fighter with an equally impressive reputation. He wasn't named as the Shinku Arashi (Scarlet Tempest) for nothing.

"Ah what can you do? Looks like its back to the drawing board!" Naruto dismissed the idea and asked the two.

Mana leaned closer to Konohamaru and whispered, "Is he that reckless?"

Konohamaru could only reply in exasperation, "You don't know half of it."

The grandson of the third Hokage then looked at the blonde and asked, "So how many hours is your seal design going to take?"

Naruto looked at Konohamaru and laughed a little. Scratching the back of his head, he sheepishly replied to his apprentice, "About that… It was my last seal design and now I'm going to have to come up with a new one… It'll probably take us months."

Konohamaru looked like he was getting ready to throttle Naruto then and there, who was he kidding? The blonde's sheepish grin was not helping. It was as if it was mocking him.

"So now that we're stuck in Mahora Academy or whatever place this is, can you guys take us to your headmaster or something? We have a lot to explain and I think we may need some sort of job here to survive before going back."

"Oh, it seems that saves us the trouble of coming to you then."

The blonde turned around, another rustle from the bushes was heard and saw a middle aged man walking with a smile, he had spiky gray hair, the man adjusted his glasses before taking the cigarette out of his mouth and said, "Principal Konoe was suddenly disturbed when he felt the presence of two unidentified people popping up out of thin air."

Naruto and Konohamaru raised their right arms and said, "Guilty as charged."

The older man simply chuckled at this and said, "Now if you would please follow me, I think that the principal is waiting for us eagerly."

Arriving at the house of the principal, or mansion as it seemed, the two looked upwards in awe. Before the gate opened revealing the face of a wrinkly old man, having a grey beard almost long enough to reach his lower torso, sitting in front of them with a smile on his face, he looked over to the two new faces in his school and then looked to the three escorts nodding at them before saying, "Thank you for your time escorting these two, Tatsumiya-san, Nagase-san. You can get back to your dorms now, patrols are over and I have disturbed you long enough."

With that, the two female students left the building and went back to their respective dorms, Konoe turned to the two new faces and gave a wry smile before speaking.

"It seems you two caused quite a ruckus earlier. It was alarming for me because I could only detect you when you were already inside the academy." Konoe nodded sagely at that to which Naruto had stars in his eyes.

"Yes! I knew the seal formula had something going for it! Woohoo! I can now bend time and space, baby!" Naruto jubilantly replied, fist pumping upwards and was giddy with excitement.

"Oh, time and space manipulation you say?" Konoe suddenly seemed interested, it was rare for mages to have that kind of ability to bend and fold time and space on its own, in fact, it was a feat on the near levels of impossible. Yet here came a boy, who looked like a total idiot, dancing around about the success of his discovery, it only seemed appropriate that the old man ask him.

Naruto looked back at the man and nodded with a grin on his face, "Yeah, I was experimenting with Konohmaru about recovering a lost technique and tried to improve it too. It was a partial success or something that we really didn't expect that shot my beyond my expectations."

The blonde pointed to the spiky haired brunette that was wearing a long sleeve dark green shirt underneath an equally dark green flak vest and khaki shorts, a long blue scarf around his neck and a weird piece of metal plating that protected his forehead that was sewn on a blue cloth, tied around his head, keeping his hair from making contact with his forehead.

The younger boy merely gave a wave with an apathetic look and glared at his master before adding.

"Yeah, a mishap in the sealing process I'm sure. Naruto-nii has made a lot of mistakes in his seals ever since he started using them after the Great War." Konohamaru replied, Naruto glared at his apprentice as the said boy continued.

"One time, he tried to experiment it near an elite clan's mansion, the result was a third of the mansion's right wing sank to the ground, Naruto-nii had to dig it out bare handed and had to re-attach the sunk building back."

"Too much into detail, Konohamaru." Naruto said in between gritted teeth, Konohamaru didn't seem to mind until Naruto began giving his apprentice a noogie.

The old man laughed at the antics between the two as both Master and apprentice started to argue. Naruto stopped for a moment when he saw a rather old, Japanese style painting.

The writing was a bit ancient but Naruto, being a seals user, easily read at the side of the illustration, the unreachable item, the eternal illusion.

"Kyoka Suigetsu." Naruto read out loud, the old man seemed impressed. That was ancient texts that Naruto read, he had a hard time reading them as well but Naruto read it like it was an everyday writing system for him.

"Man what a dreary painting, I've seen better paintings from Sai, and he's as dreary as it gets!" The blonde commented. Konoe suddenly laughed; there was much to be learned about these two and every time he observed, the more surprised he became.

"Oh, I'm surprised you can read the title, not many have that kind of knowledge in ancient Japanese Texts these days, and one so young as well… How did you come to know such knowledge?" Asked the middle aged man, Naruto looked at the bespectacled man with a cigarette in his mouth and grinned.

"I'm a seals expert, that time and space bending that happened earlier, that was a result of countless seals I had to write on my back and shoulders, though I think I might have to remove them for a newer seal design." Naruto contemplated, Konoe then spoke.

"Regardless of that, I applaud you for doing such a very impossible feat. Though I have to ask, what will you do until you come up with a seal design to transfer back? From what I gather from Takahata here, he said it would likely take you months before coming up with a seal design. What would you people do then?" Konoe asked, looking at the two who looked rather embarrassed.

"Well, about that, we really need a place to stay for a while before we could go back. I was thinking about doing some work here while we wait. If possible, that is. I promise we won't be trouble!" Naruto said that last part in desperation, bowing in front of Konoe until the old man gave off a tiny chuckle.

"Well we do have two vacancies. One is Japanese, which is the language speaking now, if you don't know, and the other is Physical education. These are the two slots we need filling in, and by the looks of it, we won't be receiving any teachers in there for the first few days." Konoe replied, Naruto then looked at Konohamaru and said,

"Fight you for it. Best two out of three." Naruto raised his fists to Konohamaru. The apprentice looked up to his master with a frown, and fire burning in his eyes.

A lame class taught in a lame classroom versus a class taught outside with teenage girls possibly giving off sweat to accentuate their curves. It was a no brainer.

Konohamaru jumped back, hands balled into fists as he said to Naruto,

"You're on!" The apprentice accepted the challenge all the while he thought, _'It's better than reading a goddamn textbook! Phys. Ed girls, here I come!'_

"Heh, Konohamaru, why so fired up? Don't tell me you're eyeing for being a PE instructor too." Naruto chided his apprentice who merely scowled and pointed to the blonde.

"I hate indoor classes, nii-chan. You know that." Konohamaru then balled his hands into fists and got into a fighting stance. He said to the blonde, "Going back to a classroom… I'd rather die than let it happen!"

Naruto's demeanour turned from laid back to almost serious, frowning at Konohamaru. "Like hell I'll be getting that desk job, Konohamaru. Looks like we can't come to terms with this at all… Oh well, it was nice knowing ya' Konohamaru, I bet we'll be great brothers in the next life."

"Heh, the only one who'll die here will be you, Naruto-nii." Konohamaru sneered, Naruto's grin turned into a scowl as he pointed to Konohamaru.

"I'm not holding back, Konohamaru. Not now, not ever!" Naruto declared, cocking his right arm back as both competitors shouted,

"Jan!"

"Ken!"

"Po!"

Ten seconds later, Konohamaru stood triumphant while Naruto was at the corner sulking like a child sitting down and holding his knees in a fetal position as his right hand continuously poked the ground.

Konohamaru was standing with a smirk but inwardly, he was gloating against his rival.

Konoe and Takahata had beads of sweat at the back of their heads seeing the two young men looked about ready to kill each other earlier but ended up playing rock-paper-scissors.

Naruto continued to sulk as Konoe slowly let out a small chuckle, these two were indeed interesting. "Well, I guess that settles it, the workload has been divided, Takahata, I wish for you to give them their schedules and take them to their dorms. I gather there are vacant rooms since the summer. These two are perfect for them."

The attendant bowed and began to walk outside, followed by a grinning Konohamaru and a depressed looking Naruto. Before exiting the house though, the old man spoke and asked the two new faces a question, "I almost forgot to ask your names, it wouldn't be good for me to forget the names of the new staffers of Mahora now, would I?"

Naruto and Konohamaru looked back at the old man and each gave a smirk, the blonde was the first to speak, "Uzumaki Naruto, Kage level ninja of Konohagakure no Sato."

Konohamaru gave a salute, "Sarutobi Konohamaru, chuunin level ninja of Konohagakure no Sato!"

* * *

The next morning:

**RING!**

The sound of the alarm clock echoed around the bedroom, the sun's morning rays gently caressing the room on the bed as both Naruto and Konohamaru groggily woke up at six in the morning. Both of them were unmoving, sitting up in their respective beds. Naruto would have slept in if it wasn't for that incessant ringing of the alarm clock.

That high pitch ringing was driving him up the wall this morning, he was about to deck the clock for good when he saw Konohamaru who was, himself, staring into nothing feeling the same bit of annoyance to the damned clock.

He then suddenly remembered the situation both of them were in right now. Inwardly cursing, Naruto shot up from his bed and frantically dashed towards the bathroom. Konohamaru looked at his mentor and rival dashing towards the bathroom and was suddenly reminded of their predicament like a sack of hammers. His mood beginning to turn sour more and more, he was about to get up from his bed and go towards the other bathroom and take a morning bath. He hated waking up in the mornings and this was no different. It was a good thing that his class was a little later but Naruto had a class in the morning and they were supposed to go for an orientation earlier on. Konohamaru gave a sigh as he walked into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, both master and apprentice walked out, Naruto was wearing a suit, white long sleeve underneath a wool vest and a black long sleeve coat, he wore black cloth pants to complement his attire and a black leather shoes courtesy of the academy. He didn't want to put the necktie as he was as confused as hell as how he would put it on. Konohamaru couldn't blame him; those things don't exist in their world. It was funny how Naruto struggled putting on the damn thing and in the end, discarded it all together.

Konohamaru was wearing a plain white shirt and dark blue jogging pants, white sneakers and a silver whistle tied around his neck dangling loosely on his chest. Unlike Naruto, who wasn't wearing a headband, Konohamaru had a green one tied to his head instead.

Finally walking out, Naruto and his apprentice reached the train station where a lot of females stood waiting for the train to arrive. Naruto and Konohamaru were instructed to wait behind the yellow line as they waited for the train.

Diligently waiting, Naruto and Konohamaru felt like they were at the spotlight of all the women, as they both stared side to side seeing girls giggling whenever they made any eye contact, one even managed to pinch Naruto's butt, who the blonde suddenly jumped in surprise. He didn't expect that! Shouldn't girls be proper and some other bullshit!

Konohamaru was snickering when he too felt that stinging and painful yank on his ass. The boy turned around in a frown as he saw the girls talking among themselves. The last Sarutobi inwardly snarled and massaged his tender buttocks.

When the train arrived, Naruto and Konohamaru were suddenly pushed into the train by the crowd, going with the flow. Inside the train, it was cramped, a lot of people were standing as they were grabbing on the plastic handles as the train ran as fast as it can, Naruto had to admit though, the ride was utterly uninteresting jumping their way towards the academy was more appealing than this!

Well, that was what Konohamaru and Naruto thought until a strong gust of wind blew many of the teenage girl's skirts upward. Naruto and Konohamaru had to keep holding their nose and try not to force a nosebleed coming out amidst the myriad of pink, yellow, white and blue undergarments that the saw. As the wind died down, the girls looked at the seemingly two present male in the cart who were looking to what seemed to be a manga tankoubon.

'_That was close!' _Naruto and Konohamaru thought at the same time

On to the other side of the cart:

A small boy, with long red hair reaching to his upper back, snivelled and sniffed. After sneezing out, blew away all of the women's skirts inside. The boy timidly apologized before the girl with bells as ties for her ponytails shouted,

"You really do want to be expelled from this school, don't you!" The red head shouted.

The bespectacled boy bowed profusely and apologized many times over, hoping the pig-tailed girl would forgive him. During their bickering, the speaker from their upper right began playing its tune and spoke.

"Next stop, Mahora Academy Central."

The red headed girl with pigtails gave a fierce grin as she said to the boy, "All right, we're going to make a run for it."

The girl to the red headed boy's right side advised the little boy, "Don't fall behind, Negi-kun!"

The statement didn't fall on deaf ears as Naruto grinned, Konohamaru seemed reluctant about this, whenever Naruto grinned; he always had something up his sleeve. Konohamaru slowly inched away from his master who was reading a tankoubon as he said to Konohamaru, "How about a little training exercise Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru shivered, what idea popped into his head right now?

As if reading his mind, the blonde said to him, "Well, even if this is a relatively peaceful place we need to maintain our shape, peace dulls the senses of a shinobi and war is always ready to happen, any day, any time."

Naruto reminded Konohamaru in a sagely manner, in fits of whispers so that no one would hear. They have been in relative peace for quite some time now; there were no people ready to start another war. No one was stupid enough with Naruto around, he gave an example of that in the form of a severely beat up Madara, close to death, on his last legs and almost devoid of emotion as Naruto poisoned the man's chakra system with a mixture of his sage chakra and the Kyuubi's to the point he can't use anymore jutsu. It left the man a cripple, mentally void of any thought and slowly wilted away like a dying leaf.

"This is my training method number two hundred and sixty-four; it's the running-through-a-crowd-and-not-hitting-anyone-you-see-not-even-a-glancing-blow-to-get-to-first-place training!" Naruto exclaimed as Konohamaru sighed, another ridiculous title for a ridiculous training method, Naruto smiled and added, "Remember Konohamaru, if you pass my training, I'm going to let you learn a new Jutsu from one of Ero-Sennin's and Kakashi-sensei's jutsu library!"

Konohamaru was stoked for a moment there. Was this a chance to learn of the jutsu of the infamous Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin, and one of the Copy Ninja's repertoires of jutsu? He was taking this stupid training!

"You've got yourself an exercise, Naruto-nii." Konohamaru looked focused for a few moments before squatting down a little, Naruto grinned as the doors of the cart opened immediately as countless girls ran from the train, dashing towards the gates of the prestigious school.

Konohamaru began bobbing and weaving through the crowd, he was barely noticed by the other girls as he made his way, he was too fast for anyone to see, sidestepping and jumping forward, back tracking for a few moments and dashing again if he saw the opportunity. He even managed to jump over one girl and wasn't even noticed until his feet hit the ground and dashing again. A gust of wind escaped as Konohamaru continued to pump chakra under his feet, his body flickering in and out of sight.

Just as seemingly he was at the front of the stampede of students, Konohamaru gave a triumphant grin until Naruto had surprised him who was already in front.

"Well that was a pretty easy exercise, huh, Konohamaru?" Asked the blonde, Konohamaru looked at his master incredulously, who had his arms at the back of his head as the said blonde was looking around.

Konohamaru's eye twitched, no matter how many times he tried to deny it, Naruto was still way too far for him to reach. He was already Kage Level in his teens, and would likely continue to keep getting stronger.

Konohamaru looked down and felt some form of mortification as he realized how he couldn't catch up to someone like Naruto. It was unfair, he, who only had the blood of the Sarutobi clan in his veins, can't stand up to a force of nature like Uzumaki Naruto. Konohamaru was about to frown until Naruto snapped him out of it by a smack on the back.

"Man, you're getting stronger and stronger everyday! It looks like I'm going to have to give you another scroll!" Naruto mentioned as he gave the boy another pat on the back that made Konohamaru cough.

Well, Konohamaru was getting there.

Principal's office:

Konoe Konoemon looked at the new teaching staff in his room with a pique of interest as they both stared at the side admiring the old man's room.

The said principal gave a laugh as he said to the duo, "Well now that you're officially a member of the teaching staff here in Mahora Academy, I would to give you some of the most important aspects of this academy."

The old man raised his finger to emphasize his point.

"First, this isn't a school that you would normally think; this is a school whose foundation is on the verge of supernatural."

Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other before Konohamaru said, "We've had our own cases of the supernatural too, so it isn't like we can't handle things like that."

That was true, they had seen a lot of things that can be considered super natural, twenty foot tall talking frogs, twenty foot tall rampaging bijuus and the like, so it wasn't as if handling a school was anymore difficult to handle.

"Ohohoho, I see, so it's almost a day to day occurrence!" Konoe said excitedly, Naruto and Konohamaru nodded at the same time. Konoe held up his middle finger for his second point.

"Very well, on to my second pointer, this school has some students that are aware to that supernatural clause. Meaning, they are magically gifted individuals that have knowledge of said magic or have enough magical reserves to make them potentially aware of magic, my grand daughter is one of them. They don't know it and I would rather like to keep it that way." Konoe mentioned, Naruto and Konohamaru merely nodded. The old man then raised his ring finger for his third point.

"Third, since this school is established with high magical energies, the teachers are not only excellent in their academics; they are also strong enough to defend this dear academy of mine." Konoe finished as he leaned back to his leather chair and said to the two new teachers, "Can I ask the two of you to defend my academy as well, to protect the students of this school?"

Naruto gave a fierce and determined grin, his sapphire blue eyes seemed to have fire burning in them, "Consider it a deal, old man."

Konohamaru's interest quietly rose though, why would an academy hire teachers that know advance combat? Unless this school or city since the size campus can be considered one itself, is consequently having outside troubles.

With that, Konoe had called for Takahata to take them to a tour around the said school.

Said bespectacled man had entered the room with a smile and curtly greeted Naruto and Konohamaru who likewise greeted him.

As they made their way around the academy, Naruto couldn't help but be impressed at the size of the school itself, if the campus needed a train to get them around the entire school, then it was no surprise that the building itself would be big as well. As they were walking around the school, Takamichi had spoken to them that had to interrupt their tour.

"Oh, do you mind if I make a stop over at class 3A? I need to talk to a teacher closer to your age to have an idea about teaching a class. You should watch how he teaches to see what technique suits you best in teaching."

Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other and asked, "There are techniques in teaching too?"

They didn't seem to mind the fact that they had a teacher close to their age.

Takahata nodded, "Yes there are, and depending on the personality of the teacher to convey the lessons being taught, the techniques done in teaching can best be described as a tool to deliver the message better."

Naruto and Konohamaru nodded at the same time as they finally reach class 3A.

Knocking on the door, Takahata waited for the teacher to open the door which a bespectacled boy of small stature opened, wearing a green suit. He had crimson red hair tied into a pony tail and chestnut brown eyes.

"Ah, Takahata-san, I never expected you to go to my class right now, what can I help you with?"

Takahata merely gave a smile and said, "Well, I'm here to introduce two new teachers in the academy, I would like to let them see how you teach to see as how they would take your technique pretty well."

"Oh, Takahata-sensei, what brings you here in 3A?" A newcomer asked, Konohamaru and Naruto looked at the woman who had an incredible bust and was also wearing glasses.

"Ah, Shizuna-sensei, I was just about to ask Negi if the two new teachers could sit in and see if his technique can be applied to their teaching style." Takahata pointed to the two new faces that were waving their hands with stupid grins all over their faces.

"I'm sorry but today is physical exams, I came here to remind Negi-sensei of that event. I'm afraid you're going to have wait for another day, when will the two of you start? Oh, where are my manners, I haven't introduced myself have I? I'm Minamoto Shizuna, a fellow teacher in this academy." She said with a smile, Naruto and Konohamaru shook hands with her and couldn't help but feel her hands were so soft and smooth. Naruto and Konohamaru then looked at the three teachers and had beads of sweat at the back of their foreheads.

'_Are teachers here required to wear glasses?' _Konohamaru thought as he looked at the blonde who answered the older woman.

"Two days from now, and it's no problem, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and this is my apprentice…" Naruto then looked at his said apprentice who continued, "Sarutobi Konohamaru."

"My, you already have an apprentice at such a young age? You must be an amazing genius for that." Negi replied seemingly impressed with the blonde, and then looked at the boy who was slightly older than him. Naruto had a bead of sweat at the back of his head.

Negi suddenly remembered what Shizuna had said and immediately went inside.

"Okay class, since today you'll be having a physical exam and since it's going to be a check up, um… Everyone please take off your clothes!"

Naruto looked at his apprentice who was merely giving off a grin as he and the blonde stealthily high-fived each other. As Negi ran outside visibly flustered, he slammed the door to his back hard and leaned against it, a blush ever present on his face.

Takahata apologized to Naruto and Konohamaru about the schedule, it seemed like the man forgot about the physicals scheduled today. Naruto and Konohamaru looked at Negi who slid down as he was carrying a staff. Shizuna had already left off, so that meant that the three of them were the only ones left outside.

"That's pretty bold of you to ask women older than you to take of their clothes, kid. What's your name?" Naruto asked with a small smile, the red head looked back at the blonde, it seemed that his smiles were infectious though as he too gave a smile, "Negi Springfield."

"Negi, eh? Pretty fitting name for you, I guess." Konohamaru mentioned, Naruto chuckled inwardly as Negi seemed confused by that somehow.

Just as they were talking, Negi suddenly felt something escape from the room, like somehow; malice was leaking its way out. The frown on Naruto and Konohamaru's faces were present, meaning that they too could sense that malice seeping out of the room. Negi was about to burst into the room when Konohamaru held him by the shoulder.

Naruto leaned in on one of the windows, grabbing his right arm with his left and flicked it, a kunai popped out of his sleeve, as his eyes steeled in gaze, those blue sapphire eyes suddenly turned cold. Reversing the grip on the Kunai, Naruto was going to let out his own killing intent. Negi suddenly felt a stinging pain in his chest, it was like something was stabbing his heart, it was filling the whole area as he felt it was getting harder and harder to breathe. He suddenly felt Konohamaru's grip tighten on his shoulder, his remaining free hand, turning already balled into a fist. A cold bead of sweat escaped from the brunette's forehead.

"Naruto-san, who are yo…"

"Negi-sensei!" Naruto had suddenly let go of his killing intent and retracted the kunai back in his sleeve. Konohamaru grip loosened, as he viewed to his side still with his frown. Negi could feel it, that steely gaze that both people had given, but as soon as they saw one of his students, their frown immediately vanished and that heavily foreboding feeling from earlier was now missing.

"We've got a problem, Makie is… Makie is…"

All of a sudden, a loud slam of the doors and window open, exposing the girls inside, in full blown lingerie and all.

Naruto immediately turned his back around, as did Konohamaru; their minds were now forever engraved with the female figure of every fifteen year old girl they saw in that classroom.

Negi, looked like a fish out of water as the girls were accidentally flashing themselves at the poor kid.

Clinic:

"It seems she was found sleeping in Sakura Lane." Shizuna mentioned, Negi looked like he was thinking to deep as he held his chin with his right hand. Naruto and Konohamaru were outside. The blonde was leaning against the door and listened to what the female teacher had to say, Konohamaru however had his hands in his pockets and looked at his master very discreetly. Every concerned classmate of the said girl was giving their pre-conceived notions of what might have happened, as the others kept looking at the two new faces.

Asuna looked nervous, as the blonde's facial expressions continued from frowning to scowling every few seconds. Negi looked very thoughtful as well. Negi looked very pre-occupied, but she had to ask him about the two new faces in the campus.

"Negi, is something wrong? You got quiet all of a sudden." Asuna asked, this snapped Negi from his thoughts, deciding to change the subject quickly, he said to the red headed girl,

"Ah, oh, there's no need to worry about her, Makie-san just got very tired, don't worry, she'll be okay." Negi said with a smile and then added, "By the way, Asuna-san, I'll be home late tonight so I won't be eating any dinner."

"Huh? Why?" Asked the girl with pigtails as she tilted her head in confusion, the tall blonde outside who was leaning against the door butted in and said with a wide grin, "That's because he promised us to take a tour around Mahora, didn't he, Konohamaru?"

As if to get an affirmation, Konohamaru nodded and said, "Yeah, Negi would take us around Mahora and look around!"

"Just my question though, who the hell are you two?" Asuna asked and pointed fingers at the blonde and Konohamaru. Negi had to interject being properly oriented about the two, "They're new teachers here in Mahora Academy. This is Uzumaki Naruto."

The blonde wave and said with a grin, "I'm going to be your Japanese teacher for the coming days so let's all get along!"

And Negi continued to the shorter of the two, "Sarutobi Konohamaru, PE teacher! I hope we can get along for the following year!"

Asuna looked at the two with a flabbergasted look; they looked like they were very close to their age! What was with this school? Some kind of breeding ground for geniuses or something!

"So what are you guys doing here hanging out in our class?" Asked the one with the long black hair and a miko cut, Naruto gave a lopsided grin and said in an embarrassed tone, "We were supposed to see Negi's teaching style so we can adapt to what style suited us best in teaching. We're complete amateurs on teaching lectures and we need Negi's framework for experience since he's closest to our age that can sympathize with the students."

Class 3A:

"Well class, we'll be having guests today in my lecture since they want to see how I teach all of you, I think it would be safe to say that they won't be bothering anyone." Negi mentioned with a tiny smile as the two teachers standing on the side waving their hands at the class. To say that the girls were intrigued was an understatement.

Negi then pointed to the taller of the two, a tall boy, roughly about five foot nine, spiky blonde hair and six whisker marks on his cheek, blue deep eyes that were shining with youth.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto, he's going to be your Japanese teacher from now on."

And then the child teacher then pointed to the shorter brunette that had a headband covering his forehead.

"And this is Sarutobi Konohamaru; he's going to be the PE instructor."

Konohamaru curtly waved in embarrassment as the girls kept staring at them, before Negi could tell them that they could ask questions, the girls had already beaten him to the punch.

"How old are you guys?"

"Do you have girlfriends?"

"What do you guys look for in a girl?"

Naruto and Konohamaru had beads of sweat at the back of their heads as the girls kept hounding them with unnecessary questions. Naruto and Konohamaru had a hard time keeping track of them. Negi on the other hand, felt somehow relieved that he could let his guard down and not get jumped on for once, at last, someone to share the pain!

Konohamaru tried to back up a little as he raised his arms gesturing that the girls were getting too close, Naruto looked like he was about to mentally shut down with the questions edging closer and closer to Jiraiya's forte.

Negi had to control the class eventually and everyone was back to their seats, Naruto and Konohamaru, simply stood on the back and watched Negi deliver his lesson.

Later that afternoon:

It was getting dark, everyone had already left the classroom, Negi was about to leave as well when Naruto grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.

"Whoa there, Negi, we can't be going out there right now until that person comes out of his/her hiding." Naruto mentioned as he set the boy down.

"B-But… My students could be in danger, I sensed a strong ma…" Negi had to cut himself off by closing his mouth, anymore and he would be exposed as a mage in training.

"Don't worry, Konoe filled us in earlier apparently, a lot of teachers here are magically aware and that they are powerful enough to protect this academy." Konohamaru suggested as he sat down on the chair, Naruto nodded.

"That's right, we're here to get things straight and go after the person that's been terrorizing Sakura lane. Your student earlier, Makie was it? She was found unconscious on Sakura lane. Before that, we sensed powerful killing intent inside this room before going to your unconscious student." Naruto mentioned, Negi looked pale as he asked, "Are you saying that the person that could be the one responsible in Sakura Lane is my student?"

Naruto shook his head as Konohamaru added, "It's just a possibility, but we can't know for sure unless the culprit pops up on his own."

"So how are going to lure that person out?" Negi asked, Naruto merely gave a smile.

"Conveniently, it's almost night time already and maybe one of your students has to make way to Sakura lane before going home." Naruto informed and Negi gave a determined nod.

Sakura lane:

It was already dark and cold, nothing but the street lamps were the only light that had led to home, Nodoka Miyazaki carefully treaded Sakura lane because of the rumour she had heard earlier, as she walked and a small gust blew some of the cherry blossom petals descend to the earth gently as it danced and swayed in the air before dropping.

The wind however brought Nodoka cold chills down her spine as she walked faster and faster through Sakura lane, she felt her heart beat faster and faster as she got deeper and deeper into Sakura lane, her heart was now racing as she began to breathe heavily, feeling that her life was on the line. Fearing that the person was getting closer and closer, she ran.

She ran to where her legs can take her but suddenly stopped when she saw a girl, standing on one of street lamps, her black cape swaying back and forth as it fluttered into the wind; a black cone hat complimented her attire as she gave a smile that bore her fangs.

"Seat Number 23, Miyazaki Nodoka… Sorry but I'll be taking a sip from your blood." She then lunged at Nodoka, her fangs bared and her arms outstretched ready to incapacitate the girl. Nodoka immediately fainted from sheer terror as the girl was about to get close to her.

Until a kunai had suddenly stopped her and she jumped back, the kunai narrowly missing her by a few millimetres.

"Hold it right there!" The voice shouted, the girl turned around and saw the red headed boy running towards her, a spell ready to be cast, "Undekim spiritis aeris wincurm fientis iminucum caputent! (Eleven spirits of the wind become a seal and bind the enemy!)"

Wind began collecting in the palm of his hand and streams of it began forming as he outstretched his palm and aimed at the woman, "Sagitaur Magika Air Kaptorae! (Arrows of wind)"

The little girl let out a vial and muttered, "Reflectio (Barrier)"

It was that instant that the arrows of wind scattered and were sent about ever which way, Negi had suddenly stopped when he saw his spell being deflected, he looked to his side to see the downed form of his student, Nodoka.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower skill)" The new voice had mentioned as countless balls of flame began peppering the girl who jumped back and flipped, she stepped on one of the street lamps.

Konohamaru had suddenly appeared to Negi's side, his sandals skidding to the ground once more now that in his ninja attire. The lower half of his face covered by his long scarf that danced and swayed from the cold night wind, Konohamaru looked silently at the girl whose hat completely fell revealing a face that surprised Negi.

"E-Evangeline-san! You were the culprit!"

Konohamaru could surmise that this was one of Negi's students. He looked at the girl and said in a stern and cold voice, "I don't know what your problem is, lady, but you don't go around picking fights and terrorizing Sakura Lane like this."

The girl laughed at this and said, "But I do because I can. It's the start of the term Negi-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei. I want to formally greet you. I must say Negi Springfield; you have very strong magic… As to be expected of his son. Did you know that there two types of mages? That there are good ones and bad ones? Guess to which group I belong."

Eva gave a vicious grin at that as she licked her lips. She turned around to Konohamaru whose right hand was now littered with Kunai, placed between the gaps of his fingers.

"I must say that was very unique magic there, to fire countless orbs of fireballs is definitely good, but I don't think it would affect me anyway." She commented, Konohamaru didn't speak as he was ready to throw his weapon as Eva asked him again.

"That feeling that happened earlier, were you the one who let it out?" She asked, she had never felt an ill feeling like that for the past two hundred years, hell the fact that it got her riled up earlier was a worthy accomplishment on itself.

Konohamaru grinned, "No, it was my master who did that."

Eva suddenly stood surprised about that, if she had seen it earlier; her suspicions about the blonde man were becoming even truer.

Eva grinned, it was a good thing this small fry was the one that appeared before her, or there would have been a powerful clash and she couldn't possibly take the man on without her full power.

"Consider yourself lucky that he didn't come here just to beat you down, he said this was going to be part of my training, so who am I to disobey the guy that's been bribing me of jutsu after jutsu in exchange for a little training?" Konohamaru added and threw the three kunai at the same time as Eva quickly grabbed another vial.

She smiled sadistically as she broke the vial and the liquid spilled. Konohamaru quickly sensed a sudden change in demeanour as she held out her hand. The liquid contorted and expanded until it turned to ice and lashed out at the three.

"Gelidus Telum! (Freeze Lancer)" The streams of ice extended and headed straight towards the two. Konohamaru inwardly cursed as he went through a series of handseals to which Evangeline had immediately noticed.

"Doton: Doryuuheki! (Earth Release: Earth Wall Formation)" Konohamaru's cheeks suddenly puffed up as he began to vomit a black substance to the ground. Negi watched in utter disbelief as the mud that had spread on the ground began to solidify and erect from the cemented floor it rose and formed a wall of solid earth as tall as a fully frown man and deflecting the spears of ice.

"God, I hate that jutsu…" Konohamaru muttered wiping the smear of mud from his lip as he jumped over the earth wall and saw Evangeline was about to get away. Konohamaru went to another series of handseals and inhaled deeply,

"Oh no, you don't! Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Skill)" Konohamaru then began spewing a large concentrated fireball the size of a normal human heading towards Evangeline. The stream of fire was immediately absorbed when Eva had taken out another vial from her pouch as Konohamaru cursed.

"Negi!"

A voice had suddenly cried out, Konohamaru had immediately clung to the opposite wall to hide himself. They don't have to know that he was a ninja and he'd rather keep it that way.

"I knew it; Negi-kun is the vampire!" Konoka suddenly declared as if she had solved a very difficult case.

Negi had to vehemently deny the accusation, "No! This is a misunderstanding!"

Negi had suddenly remembered his reason of staking out in Sakura Lane and immediately gave Nodoka in the care of Asuna and Konoka.

"I'm leaving Miyazaki-san to you; I'm going after the person who's been causing all of these incidents!" Negi proclaimed as he dashed like a madman and going after the mage that had been causing havoc. Seeing as Negi was dashing to where Evangeline was, Konohamaru immediately followed suit as he activated his Shunshin no jutsu, flickering through the trees at top speed.

As they reached for the girl mage who was giving a sadistic grin this whole time, Konohamaru was about to perform another skill until she jumped off the edge. Konohamaru didn't expect it but Evangeline remained in mid air for a few more seconds and confirmed that she can fly.

Konohamaru didn't have anything like that! Hell even Naruto didn't have anything like that! He saw Negi jumping from the bridge and riding his staff as he too flew and headed towards Evangeline.

Konohamaru cursed as he had to look for a tall building to give enough fire support, he doubted if Negi could do it alone, that air of confidence and condescending tone from the girl was giving him a bad feeling, but he shook it off his head as he began jumping from tree canopies to rooftops, waiting for Evangeline to got into his range and take her out with an attack that can reach her. He saw Negi multiplying himself with eight clones made of wind as the streams of it dashed towards Evangeline trying to subdue her; Evangeline grabbed more vials from her person and released them, dispelling five of his wind clones immediately. Eva landed on the side walk and Konohamaru saw his chance, grabbing a scroll from his pocket, he unfurled it and revealed countless writings of kanji. Tapping the first character he saw, smoke wafted through the air as Konohamaru held a spinning object in his right hand that was spinning wildly like a propeller.

Konohamaru then threw the Fuuma Shuriken directly at Evangeline who immediately saw the offending projectile and jumped. It was then that three of Negi's remaining wind clones cut her off as the real one released a spell and aimed for her, "It ends here! I've caught you, Eva-san! Flans Exclamatio! (Wind Flower Disarm)"

As soon as he said that, Eva's mantle and attire were completely torn from her, revealing her pale white skin underneath and her undergarments for the world to see. Despite the compromising attire that she was wearing, she didn't seem embarrassed that two boys were staring at her with only her underwear on.

"This is our victory okay? And as promised, you're going to have to tell me what you know about my father." Negi said in a gentle tone, Konohamaru had jumped to his side immediately, kneeling as he landed, and stared Evangeline quietly. He just hoped Naruto would be here if they were to bite the bullet.

"A-Anyway, without your magic power, your mantle, and your vials, victory is ours, alright!" Negi shakily mentioned, Konohamaru merely rolled his eyes. Negi was still a child alright.

"He's right you know, you're cornered and you don't have any tricks left up your sleeve. I say you give what he wants." Konohamaru mentioned, Eva merely gave a grin, "Did you think you've already won?"

It was then that Konohamaru had detected a newcomer into the fray as the figure jumped from the adjacent roof behind Evangeline; she landed behind the girl as she dashed towards Negi and Konohamaru, Konohamaru was quick to react and cut off the girl's path straight to Negi, he had immediately flicked his arms and kunai immediately appeared from his sleeves the girl clashed with Konohamaru as he spun around, dust picked up from his right foot. Konohamaru flicked the kunai from his right hand, firing the said projectile towards the girl's face, the girl, quick to react, ducked from the blow but was quickly met with a knee straight to her face. She reacted fast enough by stopping it with her hands.

Konohamaru stared at disbelief. _'That is the strongest knee strike I could ever muster, she didn't even budge!'_

Negi was quick to cast a spell but was immediately halted when Chachamaru quickly appeared in front of him, flicking a finger on his forehead. Negi couldn't properly cast a spell fast enough, as he suddenly staggered back, Konohamaru dashed at Chachamaru his hand hidden beneath his torso.

"Katon: Nensho Kouken… (Fire release: Burning Tiger Fist)" Konohamaru had suddenly appeared by Chachamaru's side gone was his angry look as he now looked completely cold the lower half of his face was covered by the shadow cast by the moon as his eyes showed the coldness the eyes of a cold blooded killer. His right hand blazing in fire, and unloaded his punch straight to Chachamaru's face. The girl simply leaned back as the burning punch missed by millimetres from her face, Konohamaru however, instead of losing balance, stopped and back handed Chachamaru who was suddenly hit at the stomach. The robotic girl had to jump back as Konohamaru wordlessly looked at them as he muttered.

"I won't fail another mission." Konohamaru's mind flashed through the deaths that littered around him, he saw Udon's cold body, lying lifelessly to his side, as Moegi was trying desperately to wake up the third member of their squad. Ebisu was at their side that was shaking his head.

"I won't fail to protect anyone again…" Konohamaru then unfurled his forehead protector and saw a golden tiara like crown wrapping around his forehead. Konohamaru's hand surrounded in fire dissipated as he put his hands together in the seal of the ram for a second. Evangeline, not wanting to see what Konohamaru could do with what he was about to do, told Chachamaru to immediately intercept the boy.

"I won't let something like what happened in the Great War happen again." Konohamaru's hand was already at the thin headpiece but felt his hand stopping as it was held with calloused ones. As if snapping Konohamaru from his reverie, Naruto was already there with a smile on his face as he said to Konohamaru.

Naruto was wearing his standard Konoha uniform and the red haori with the black flame design at the hem of the said cloak and edges of the sleeves.

"Don't go overboard, Konohamaru, Negi isn't dying. There's no reason to use _that._ Besides, they are still our students"

Evangeline didn't even detect the blonde getting closer to them! How was it possible for the boy to do that!

"Naruto-nii…" Konohamaru could only say as he stared at Naruto for a moment and then back at Evangeline. Naruto was the one to speak, "I think a truce would be good for now, wouldn't you say so, Eva-chan?"

Eva seemed to fume at that last part as she reacted while blushing, "Don't you dare call me Eva-chan, you plebeian!"

Naruto didn't seem to notice nor care, "I mean, it's not like you were going to kill, Negi, right?"

Eva, still fuming, decided to taunt the blonde, she smirked, "Oh, I was… I can't deny that, it's because for me to break this curse placed upon me by his father, I have to suck the blood of someone from his bloodline, and it being Negi, son of the Thousand Master, I need a set amount to make me free again and the amount I need would result in his death."

"Nope, sorry, no can do, Eva-chan. Now go back home before I give you a spanking." Naruto said with a smile, unknown to him, the immortal girl was ready to strangle the blonde male for his idiocy and the indignity of it all for being treated like a kid!

"I am going to kill you. Slowly." Eva mentioned as she and Chachamaru jumped back, falling from the eighth floor, Naruto stopped Negi from going after them.

Naruto saw Negi sit down from the fatigue as Konohamaru looked down on the ground, Naruto was sure that his apprentice was feeling mortified of what he had almost done. Sensing someone was coming after them, Naruto nudged Konohamaru and both bid farewell to Negi.

"Take care of yourself, Negi." Naruto said with a smile and both vanished with but a small flicker as Asuna was nearing the site where she saw Negi fall.

* * *

To be continued…

Well, I decided to try a crossover like this to get rid of my writer's block (still suffering) anyway, tell me what you think and tell me if any of you want this story continued.


	2. Mahora Misadventures

Chapter Two: Mahora Misadventures

* * *

The dead of the night brought a cool chilling wind to Konohamaru as he and Naruto were jumping from rooftop to rooftop, they had stopped when Naruto had landed on a clearing filled with nothing but trees as the said blonde turned to Konohamaru,

"Looks like you still can't get past that moment, can you?" The blonde asked, Konohamaru looked at Naruto with shame and then bowed with a nod. The blonde only turned his back and said, "Well then, if you're that resolved to fight for your loved ones then I can't complain. After all, we're so alike that it's not even funny, Konohamaru."

Konohamaru maintained his silence while Naruto continued, "Udon's death, it struck you hard. You don't want to lose anyone ever again, right?"

Konohamaru could only give a nod. Naruto then smiled and said to Konohamaru, "Then don't mope about it anymore, it's been a year Konohamaru, the scars are still there, but we don't have anything to wince at anymore. Madara's dead, aren't you going to continue on?"

"Because I'm not strong enough, unlike you!" Konohamaru suddenly exclaimed, Naruto stopped immediately as his apprentice began to speak, "I wasn't able to save Udon, I wasn't able to stop Kabuto from stabbing him! The mission killed almost all of us except for me, Moegi and Ebisu-sensei!"

"When I saw that girl bypassed my defence, I saw the same situation when Kabuto went past me and went straight to Udon!" Konohamaru shouted, as he punched a tree sideways, the tree shook as leaves soon began falling down.

"I kept thinking to myself, if I was only as strong as Naruto-nii, then I would have killed Kabuto then and there and Udon could have survived!"

Naruto then smacked Konohamaru upside the head and shouted, "Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't have seen you idiot!"

"We've been over this Konohamaru! I told you that I'll teach you only if you put the fact that what happened to Udon wasn't your mistake! Ah! Now you just pissed ME off!" To this Naruto began walking away and turned to face Konohamaru once again, this time going for a fighting stance.

Konohamaru, who cradled his head from the pain, looked back to his master who shouted impatiently at him, "Well? What's the matter? Get ready to fight! I'm going to beat your frustrations out of that system of yours!"

Konohamaru stood agape at that as the blonde was about to charge at him, he asked, "What the hell is wrong is wrong with you, Naruto-nii!"

Naruto bent his legs down for a few seconds and said, "I'm just going to beat the sense into your head until you realize what happened back then couldn't be blamed on you!"

Konohamaru practically waved his hands as Naruto dashed towards him at breakneck speeds.

"Hey wait a second, that's overkill in giving solutions!"

Over the course of the night, only the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and the occasional environmental destruction littered throughout the forest. Konohamaru felt like a half of his lifespan vanished in a blink of an eye.

* * *

The next morning:

Naruto and Konohamaru, who had eye bags under his eyes and looked like he just walked through a meat grinder, walked towards the school gate with the blonde's right hand in his pocket and a textbook in his left; the blonde looked at the child who was struggling from Asuna's grip.

Naruto held up his right hand and slightly waved at Negi, "Sup, Negi, what are you doing?"

Asuna answered for the boy, "He's trying to hide from Evangeline, because she scares him. I don't know why he should be so worried. If she attacks the brat, then she gets suspended, simple as that!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he looked at Negi, "You told her what happened last night?"

Negi nodded slowly and Naruto sighed, "Does she mean she knows…"

Negi nodded again. Naruto then said, "We really need to talk about how you should be more careful about everything around you."

The girl next to Asuna, Konoka, looked thoughtful for a moment and said, "That reminds me; some of the trees near Sakura Lane were destroyed last night. I wonder how did that happened?"

Naruto flinched but that didn't go noticed by the girls around them. Konohamaru groaned. Asuna looked at Konohamaru and asked Naruto, "What's with him?"

"Bad night of drinking." Naruto immediately replied with a straight face. Asuna stared at him with a scowl and said, "You made a thirteen-year-old boy drink liquor!"

Naruto looked perturbed and viewed his left side, avoiding eye contact with Asuna and said, "Well, from where we came from, the moment we turn twelve is the moment we're considered adults so… We're pretty much allowed to do whatever we want."

Konoka looked at Konohamaru who was stretching his back and hearing a few cracks as he muttered, "Stupid therapy."

Asuna stood agape at that, dropping Negi who was scrambling away and trying to go back to the dorm, until the blonde grabbed him by the collar and hefted him by the shoulder.

"You're not going anywhere, Negi." The blonde commented, ignoring his cry for help, "But she'll kill me!"

Naruto dismissed it as he dropped the boy at 3A's classroom, "You worry too much, Negi."

"B-But she's dangerous! She'll attack me!" Negi continued on as Naruto pushed the little kid's head who was trying to go out.

"Then she'll be suspended if she does." Naruto reminded, Konohamaru felt a bead of sweat falling from the back of his head as Asuna nodded. _'What the hell is with idiots and their overly simplistic solutions?'_

With that, Naruto went waved to the class and went away with a grin, today was the day they start after all.

Makie looked incredulous as she asked, "Wow, who was that?"

Konoka answered for her, "Oh that's right, you were sick yesterday weren't you, Makie, that's our new Japanese teacher, Naruto-sensei!"

Makie couldn't help but be curious at the new teacher as well.

One hour later:

Negi exited the class room looking down depressed, he had thought about getting a partner, because by the looks of it, Evangeline and that puppet were mage and minister. Naruto looked at the younger boy and decided to slap the boy's back hard causing the boy to jump in surprise. The blonde smiled and waved at the kid, "What's the matter, Negi? Still concerned about what happened last night?"

Negi simply nodded.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment putting his right hand below his chin and looked up, he then clapped his hands together as an idea surfaced in his head, "How about the three of us guys talk about it later? I'm sure it will help you with whatever problem you have in mind!"

Naruto then waved the kid a farewell and entered the classroom, he was a little nervous since this was the first time he was about to teach the class. In classic fashion, Naruto caught the bucket from his head automatically and looked at contents of water in it, scratching his head; he set down the bucket to the side and incidentally evading a series of mini plungers getting stuck on his back.

"Wow that was a little dangerous." Naruto commented and nodded, the girls looked agape at that as Naruto had managed to evade a triple layered prank. He even managed to ignore the trip wire!

The twins in their seats were biting their handkerchiefs in frustration as they noticed that the blonde had an absurd amount of luck. The blonde then looked at them in confusion as some of the girls looked perturbed or outright blushed, looking at each other and mumbling. Naruto merely shrugged it off, thinking it was nothing worrisome.

Grabbing a piece of chalk, Naruto wrote his name in big characters on the black board that took up all its space.

The blonde in his seat gave big grin and waved at them enthusiastically, "Hi girls! I'm the new teacher for the Japanese Language, well, more like writing! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm glad to meet all of you! Well, I was supposed to start tomorrow, but I think I'm ready to take on the challenge!"

Naruto then sat down in his seat and said, "Even though I've read and memorized your names, I want to see all of you and present yourself upfront, after that, I want to know what your favourite word is!"

To this, the blonde grinned even further as he began to look at the class record at the list of names. Randomly selecting any student in his list, Naruto stopped at student number two.

He grinned.

A few hours later:

After Japanese class, they had to go to PE classes today. Needless to say, the class of 3A were pushed to the brink of exhaustion as Konohamaru kept pushing them when they made their tracks. He was boisterous and energetic that was for sure, that and he had the stamina to prove it too. They were running their thirtieth lap and Konohamaru was only slightly sweaty.

As the day passed by uneventfully, Negi had diligently waited for Naruto and Konohamaru to finish. Konohamaru was taking a shower while Naruto was finishing his class. After class, Naruto had to get back to the faculty and look at his new desk, tired and weary; being in a class filled with hormonally charged teenage girls was not the paradise he had dreamed. He was always weary of some form of sexual harassment or trying to cop a feel on him. It was like he was some piece of meat for a den of hungry lions.

"Can't it take at least ten minutes for these women to not actually try and feel me up! My ass hurts!" The blonde complained, his perpetual smile now gone with a scowl on his face, he was face down on his desk as Shizuna Minamoto chastised the blonde with a smile,

"Don't worry so much about it, Naruto-sensei; I'm sure after a couple of months the advancements will stop."

Naruto wasn't sure about that, from the looks of it, it was going to get worse.

Takahata merely gave a small chuckle before saying, "That's because you, Naruto-sensei, are a catch for a girl's eye, but don't let it bother you, I think Negi-kun has had the same problem before but now dwindled."

Naruto wondered at that, was it really gone, or did Negi grow tired of complaining?

Speaking of the child, Naruto slowly got up from his seat and went out of the faculty, holding his back with his left hand and muttered, "I hope my regeneration also has pain killers."

Once outside, he was met with a good smelling Konohamaru, who was almost finally okay since last night and a Negi who was still looking perturbed.

Once they got out of the school building, Naruto took them to a small café near campus and the blonde asked, "So what seems to be bothering our youngest teacher?"

Negi scratched the back of his head and said, "I need a partner in protecting me against Evangeline-san."

Naruto recalled the pale blonde girl from the class and nodded, Konohamaru asked this time, "Why would you do that?"

Negi twiddled his thumbs and said as Naruto drank his tea, "It's because I'm a mage Konohamaru-san. For me to chant my spells properly, I'd have to chant without interruptions and not let the opposing factor get close to me. That is why I need a partner or a Minister Magi."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at this and asked, "Well, that seems simple enough. So what's the problem with that? I'm sure Konohamaru can help you with that area."

Negi then scratched the back of his head and said, "But a contract with a fellow teacher would seem to be a bother, Konohamaru-san might be bothered with his work if we were to make a contract."

Konohamaru seemed to nod at this and pointed to his master, "Don't you dare add more bulk to my burdens already!"

Negi seemed to stifle laughter at this as he suddenly remembered, "I forgot to ask, Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei. How did the two of you get so strong?"

Naruto looked at Konohamaru who looked back at his master, the two turned serious all of a sudden, Naruto who suddenly grew sullen and Konohamaru who suddenly felt like he was angry.

"Do you really want to know, Negi?" Naruto asked; the blonde then placed his teacup in front, not feeling that thirsty anymore. Konohamaru then continued, "Negi… The stuff that we've seen and heard isn't pretty for kids like you. We've seen a lot of things that shouldn't have been allowed, things that shouldn't have been like they were. Negi, do you really want to know?"

Negi then replied, "I-It's okay if you don't tell me. I think there are reasons why you want to keep them from me."

Naruto then flicked the child's forehead with his index finger and said, "It's not that we want to keep those secrets from you, kid. It's that we don't think it's a good idea to talk to children about the atrocities of war."

Negi looked pale for a moment and suddenly asked, "W-What are you…"

Konohamaru then said to the boy, "Negi, we came from a different world than you, I've seen friends and comrades die before me, and I've seen how horrible people can be when given the chance. When you've been exposed to war and lived, every perception of what was your reality change extremely to the point where you might never think you could go back to the way you once were."

Konohamaru thought about Udon and how their platoon was almost wiped out by Kabuto.

Naruto however, thought differently and remembered his final moments with Madara.

Negi looked down and said, "I-I'm sorry, and here I was worrying about finding a partner when the two of you have already experienced something big. I'm really inferior compared to you two."

To this, Naruto grinned and patted the boy on the back, "Negi, you're still a kid, be like one, you can worry about the little stuff all you want. Don't rush into being an adult like I did. You'll never get a chance to take back that childhood."

Negi was about to ask the blonde what he meant when two of the girls from red head's class grabbed Negi and dashed off. Naruto and Konohamaru, who were surprised that they were able to bypass their detection capabilities, suddenly jumped from their seats and began jumping towards the two kidnappers at the speed normal ninjas kept, the two girls, surprised by this, increased their pace as Naruto and Konohamaru continued to jump their way towards them at remarkable velocities.

Konohamaru inwardly cursed, the girls went past their detection capabilities, it was as if something was blocking them from ever finding them out, Konohamaru tried to lock on with one of Negi's captors with chakra only to detect nothing significant, in fact, there was nothing at all!

Naruto was one to speak out the aggravation he felt, "Tch… No chakra. It's probably why they manage to slip past our guard."

Once they made their designated mark, the two girls tossed Negi over the fence and landed in a splash. A few seconds later, Naruto and Konohamaru were over the fence to see their fellow teacher who was now being smothered by girls in Bikinis. Naruto and Konohamaru were looking on in stupor as they watched Negi being sexually harassed by his advisory class. At the entrance, Naruto saw Asuna who was dashing inside the hot springs.

Once she got inside, Naruto and Konohamaru were at her side and Asuna suddenly pointed angrily at Ayaka, "You perverted Shota! You're giving sake to a minor!"

The moment was fallen on deaf ears however, as a streak of white suddenly dashed inside outdoor baths, going underwater and started loosening women's underwear left and right.

Not going unnoticed, Konohamaru and Naruto had their noses dripping with blood as the said thing jumped from the hot springs and went straight to Asuna. With good reflexes, Asuna smashed the thing with her bag that smacked the poor creature to the ground. Before it can recover, Naruto immediately stepped on its tail, earning a yelp of pain from the creature.

"The hell is with this thing?" Naruto said as he went and picked up the said creature on its tail and yanked it up.

"I-I'm sorry, I was injected with a really high dose of stimulants…" Naruto slapped his remaining free hand on the rodent's mouth and shouted, "Negi, Asuna, group meeting, now!"

Negi, in surprise of Naruto's sudden command, immediately wadded through the hot water and dashed outside. Leaving the girls utterly confused.

Konohamaru quickly followed suit as the quartet was outside of the bath entrances and then into Asuna's dorm and began whispering to each other, Naruto was the first to start, "What the hell is this perverted rat? It suddenly talked when I yanked its tail! Is this thing some sort of summon?"

Negi immediately recognized the said creature and then exclaimed, "Chamo! It's you!"

"Aniki!" The rat replied

Naruto then let go of the little rodent as it scurried its way towards Negi, who embraced it tightly.

Konohamaru and Asuna looked confused, as they looked at the two with curiosity, until Negi spoke, "I'm sorry everybody, this is my friend, Albel Chamomile. He's an ermine."

The said ferret waved its hand and Asuna's eye twitched, "It's a talking rat."

"I'm an ermine, ane-san!" The ferret replied, feeling insulted by that comment.

Konohamaru was the one to ask obviously ignoring Chamo's correction, "So what's a talking rat doing in Mahora?"

Chamo corrected that statement, "_Ermine_, aniki, I'm an ermine, as in a short tailed weasel there's a difference between a rat and a ferret. Obviously, I'm the latter! Anyway, I came here to see of Negi-aniki has been doing well!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, the kid was having his own problems and this little rat just had to add to his problems.

"I've seen you've grown big, Chamo-kun, I'm very happy that you're well." Negi mentioned, Chamo cut him off, "One of us has to, Negi-aniki! You, however, made no progress at all!"

Negi looked confused at that and asked, "Huh? What do you mean, Chamo-kun?"

"I'm talking about finding your partner! You have to find a partner or you won't look good as a magister magi, remember!" Chamo answered enthusiastically, as he then grabbed a cigarette and started smoking the cancer stick.

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow at this, "How in the blazes did something this small store a pack of cigarettes in his person? And a lighter too!"

Everyone shrugged as Asuna grabbed the cigarette and put it out. But not before Chamo took a whiff of the nicotine laden stick and puffing it out. Negi looked like he was in the depth of despair, "I've thought about it for a while but I've been failing horribly looking for a partner."

"Don't worry about it Aniki, now that I'm here, you can count on me to find you a partner, of that, I'm sure!" Said the little ferret, as he hopped down the table and then scurrying over Negi's shoulders.

A sudden budge from the door scrambled the quintet inside the room as Konoka, only wearing a towel, saw the ferret that was on the floor and totally didn't notice the Naruto and Konohamaru who suddenly took a step back from the sudden surprise.

"What's all this talk inside!"

Immediately seeing the ferret, Konoka could see the cuteness factor of the said ermine and grabbed it from the floor.

"Kyaa! It's pure white ermine! It's so cute! Is this Negi-sensei's pet?"

It was then that Konoka took the pet outside right after changing and showing the said ferret outside.

Naruto and Konohamaru looked at the two inside (Negi and Asuna) and the brunette said, "I don't know about you guys, but that thing smells like big trouble. That excuse he gave to Naruto-nii earlier was too farfetched."

After a few minutes of showing Chamo around, the said ferret, when Konoka was in the kitchen, flipped the class list that Negi had and began scanning through the females in his class, looking for Negi's ideal partner.

Chamo then pointed to student number twenty seven, Miyazaki Nodoka. "This is it, aniki; this is the girl who is really destined to be your partner!"

Naruto looked flatly at the perverted rat and said in a deadpan tone, "Are you serious? I call BS on it."

Konohamaru nodded and joked, "Yeah, you should just let Negi decide who he wants to be a girlfriend or not."

"WHAT!" Asuna suddenly exclaimed, Naruto and Konohamaru backed off a little all the while saying to the girl, "It's nothing… Nothing!"

"Good." The girl said. As Chamo nodded, "Anyway, I feel that there is a powerful connection coming from this girl aniki, you should totally make her your partner!"

Naruto merely shook his head, "If you guys are trying to involve someone who doesn't know what's happening then consider us out of it."

Asuna had to agree, "Yeah, Honya-chan doesn't know what she's entering if you make her your partner like that."

To this, Naruto and Konohamaru went for the window and said, "Before making her your partner Negi, you have to say what is happening, and the risks that she might take. This is serious business if you are willing to face that girl. You might never know when she will attack. So think this carefully but think fast."

Asuna then cut the blonde off, "That reminds me, Eva-chan said she's going to attack Negi on the next night of the full moon! Apparently, that is the day she regains her powers slightly."

Naruto nodded at this and pointed to Negi, "Let me make it clear for you Negi, the moment that Eva strikes, is the moment you fight for your life. Her target is you, so you have to remember that even if you have a partner, they'll make their move on you. Fight to survive, Negi, even if it means you have to claw her eyes out."

With that, Naruto and Konohamaru jumped from their window and landed on the tree tops, hopping away from the dorms and making their way back to their apartment.

The next day:

Naruto had just finished his class in 3C, and although he had glared wordlessly a couple of times to some of the girls, the pinching did not let up. As he went and walked outside the corridor, his back arched forward as he held his buttocks in pain. He looked absolutely tired; his eyes looked like it had bags under them. His curiosity suddenly piqued as he saw Nodoka dashing downstairs after class as if she was late for something, Naruto then looked at his window seeing Negi walking near the fountain, and was suddenly interrupted by the perverted ferret.

Naruto then looked at the opposite end, seeing Konohamaru monitoring the girls in bloomers who were running in white blouses. Naruto seethed at that and reminded himself that he lost, but there was still a part of him that was jealous! Damn that apprentice of his!

Deciding to see what that perverted ferret was up to, Naruto did a double-take and opened the window. He carefully jumped from the third floor, applying chakra to his feet, he cushioned his fall and used his body flicker skill to see what Chamo was planning before something completely stupid would happen.

And true to his thoughts, Naruto saw Negi about to kiss Nodoka until Asuna smacked Chamo hard with her bag, the magic circle fading from below Negi and Nodoka.

"Shame on you, you perverted ermine!" Asuna exclaimed as Nodoka fell unconscious on the ground.

Asuna then held out a crumpled letter and said, "Look! I found this letter from Negi's older sister!"

"BUSTED!" Chamo exclaimed as he was about to make his way out of Asuna's tight grip, his tail was suddenly stepped on by Naruto.

"Konohamaru had a good inkling that you were trouble, ermine."

Chamo looked up as the blonde's face was covered by his shadow; the only thing he could see was the blonde's eyes shimmering and was full of malice. Chamo shivered under the gaze as light slowly crawled its way up his eyes and revealing a grinning Naruto. For a moment there, Chamo was actually scared! Asuna was the one, who spoke first,

"You really didn't come here because of Negi's sister asking for help, right? The truth is, Negi's big sister mentioned that you've done some bad things at home!"

Asuna then showed the letter, "Two thousand counts of stealing underwear! What is this about?"

Negi felt outraged at this as he said to Chamo, "Chamo-kun, what's the meaning of this!"

Chamo shifted his gaze from Negi, to Asuna to Naruto, who was only quiet and was smiling. For some reason, Chamo was actually even more scared of the blonde than he was with Negi and Asuna.

"T-there's a good explanation for this, aniki, It's a false charge!" Chamo exclaimed flailing his arms about.

Asuna questioned why she didn't seem to believe the white ermine and Naruto had to add, "That's always their excuse, Chamo."

Naruto remembered Jiraiya who was always peeking into the women's baths back then with him, when the old coot got caught, the blame always shifted on the blonde, who was oblivious around him. It was a good thing though, that the women, who more than likely were charmed with his oblivious tendencies, always and always manage to put the blame back on Jiraiya even if Naruto intended to play the same innocence trick from time to time. Jiraiya tried to play the innocent card one too many times but it always managed to back fire and he got even more beat up than usual.

"I have a sister with a weak constitution!" Chamo declared as he almost managed to pry his tail off Naruto's foot until the blonde tightened his foothold earning a yelp. The ferret continued on about how winters in Wales were cold and how he had to steal underwear to provide warmth for his sister and how he boarded a ship to Japan in search of Negi and how he was willing to turn himself in for the said child.

"Hah! What a stupid excuse! Who would ever believe that!" Naruto commented, as he suddenly saw Negi on the verge of tears no, Negi was actually _crying._

"I-I didn't know you had it so hard Chamo-kun!" Negi said between sobs, Naruto felt like he wanted to bang his head on the wall for that.

"You seriously buy that crap, Negi?" Naruto asked incredulously, to which, Asuna replied, "Yes, yes he does."

Naruto felt like pulling his hair out of frustration and punching Negi in the face at that. But chose to hide his frustration with a smile and said, "Ah what can you do, if Negi wants to keep that rat as a pet then it's his decision."

It was then that Konohamaru had suddenly appeared when the brunette turned into a corner, the apprentice took a peek at the unconscious form of Nodoka who was in Asuna's arms and Naruto with Negi who was holding the talking rat that they saw yesterday.

"What is going on here?" The brunette asked. Naruto explained the situation to him, when Chamo deceived Negi right up until Chamo deceived Negi.

"Are you serious?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto could only nod, Konohamaru then went for his back pocket, to where his kunai was usually hidden, about to make Chamo a moving target, Naruto stopped him.

"I think it's best that Negi handles this alone. It's his decision, Konohamaru. Let's just turn a blind eye on this for now and see what will happen."

Konohamaru deadpanned him, "You're leaving an impressionable kid in the guidance of a pervert who doubles as a lousy conman."

"So? I impressed you with my Oiroke no Jutsu, didn't I?" Naruto asked

"Point." Konohamaru deadpanned, obviously, Naruto was correct about that one, before Asuna heard about that jutsu, they made a quick getaway just to be sure that the red head with the bells on her head didn't hear _that _particular statement.

When they made it to the faculty room, they met Takahata who, was incidentally enough, waiting for them to report to the principal. The two looked at each other as each was trying to find an answer to one another but couldn't.

Once they arrive at the headmaster's office, the doors opened and the sight of the old man made both Naruto and Konohamaru uneasy. It wasn't as if the old man was intimidating, no, far from it. The dean looked like those folks at the home for the aged houses that the old lady Tsunade would occasionally visit for a game of poker. Naruto had once complimented Tsunade that she was mingling with the old folks well despite her loses and that she belonged there. That earned him a punch to the face that had put him so close to death that he had to rest at the hospital for two weeks before finally being released.

Konohamaru saw Naruto fidget a little and looked pale for a second, but shrugged it off as nothing more than the blonde's paranoia.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, Konohamaru-kun, it's good that you made it here on time!" Mentioned the old man as he stroke his beard downwards, the blonde turned his head to the left and saw Konoka making who was done talking with her grandfather and about to make an exit.

"Normally, I would ask either of you if you want my granddaughter's hand in marriage but due to your circumstance and the safety of my head is compromised, I've decided to hold it off." The dean mentioned, eyeing his granddaughter who was standing close to a mallet.

Naruto and Konohamaru could only shrug before the dean continued, "Yes, well, It has come to my attention that you two need a further orientation on this campus, the fact that the two of you are well acquainted with the school itself in just two days is good enough, but I think further rounds with the campus itself is what is needed. After all, you two would have your own reasonable set of rounds in this school once in a while."

"Oh God, yes! In the process I get to find a convenience store that can give a REAL dinner!" Konohamaru exclaimed, Naruto felt that there was an insult in there, somewhere.

"And what's wrong with cup ramen?" The blonde asked, obviously hurt.

"Only that we ate that thing for breakfast and dinner for two straight days!" Konohamaru complained, obviously, the thought of having another cup ramen for dinner was going to drive him completely insane.

"Hey, Ramen is the food of the gods!" Naruto defended, Konohamaru retorted, "Only for you and your warped mind! I've had enough of instant noodles for breakfast and dinner! I don't want rations!"

"Not my fault for not packing rations before ending up here! Be glad I'm even sharing my ramen with you, you ungrateful little 'turd!" Naruto defended.

"Who in their right mind would pack rations on a jutsu exercise just outside the village!" Konohamaru asked, Naruto grew irate at his idiotic apprentice for insulting his holy grail and was about to strangle the kid, "Why you little…" Naruto stopped however as did Konohamaru, as the implications had hit home. Seeing Naruto silent for a few seconds, Konohamaru peered his vision to where Naruto was looking at.

Konoka was just standing there with a small smile and then asked, "Ah, sensei, what's jutsu?"

Konohamaru inwardly cursed and felt like stabbing himself, he almost just blew the entire cover! '_Think fast, Konohamaru, better come up with a logical excuse before something comes out of Naruto's mouth and make a very stupid answer!'  
_

"Uhh… Dancing techniques?"

Crap.

Instantly, Konoka's eyes lit up with a sparkle as she said to Naruto, "You dance, Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto looked sideways, trying not to make eye contact with the brunette as he made an excuse, "Ah, well, it's not exactly your traditional type of dance, it's… Very dangerous…"

Dancing with Zabuza, dancing with Haku, dancing with Orochimaru, dancing with Sasuke, dancing with Pain… And these dances don't include music for the choreography too, just lots of pointy things and blood.

Konoka grew even more excited, "You mean, break dancing? I want to see!"

It was then that Naruto turned to Konohamaru and wordlessly pleaded with a, 'need some help here!' look. Konohamaru only turned his back on the blonde which meant, 'Kiss my ass, Naruto, you're on your own.'

Naruto inwardly groaned, sure it was his fault they got stuck here, but it doesn't mean that his apprentice had to shove it in his face! Suddenly he could sympathize with Jiraiya for putting up with HIS antics back when he was a genin! Why'd he take an apprentice again?

Naruto looked at Konoka with a sheepish look and asked, "What's break dancing?"

"Forgive Naruto, Konoka, he's a bit out of touch with today's modern terms, you see, the two of them came from a remote isolated village. They've only just recently come out and have been travelling for a while. I should word this differently, Naruto, break dancing is acrobatic manoeuvres in a form of a, well, dance." The dean had informed the blonde, who was nodding a little.

Konoka gave a cute pout and looked at Naruto expectantly, "Well, sensei?"

Naruto inwardly groaned again as he gave a demonstration, back flips and all!

God, he hated his own mouth sometimes!

Later that day:

After almost knocking over the headmaster's bookcase, almost breaking his own back and almost falling on Konoka, Naruto, along with his apprentice, are now escorted with the female ninja that they had met two nights ago, if Naruto remembered correctly, this was Nagase Kaede, student number twenty.

"Man this place is just one huge campus! I mean, it's like a third of our village can fit inside!" The blonde said incredulously looking around at the shops, markets and all the people thriving in them.

"Yeah, this place has everything a student needs." Konohamaru looked around, ducking slightly and avoiding a bucket of paint straight to his face.

Naruto on the other hand, was simply walking beside Kaede and still remained oblivious; he didn't even need to notice the trip wires, the pitfalls, the falling objects or any other unmentionable pranks that the two hellions, Fuuka and Fumika, could come up with. Naruto was simply impervious to traps that are meant for pranks!

Konohamaru had a bead of sweat at the back of his forehead; many would consider Naruto as the god of luck for this unbelievable display. But he kept that decision to himself seeing as it was his luck that they ended up here in the first place!

Naruto and Konohamaru then noticed a huge tree, something they evidently noticed the sooner they got to the center. It was large, larger than any tree in fire country, definitely.

"Wow, that's some tree. It's so unlike the trees we've seen back in the village." Naruto mentioned. Whistling at the tree's height and canopy, it looked like it was a training ground in itself, Naruto had to resist the urge to jump and run upwards, the two little hell raisers were still around, and although he didn't notice the traps, he could still hear the clumsy and casual steps of the two as opposed to seasoned shinobi like the three of them.

"That reminds me, de gozaru. You were shinobi in your village right?" She asked, to this the two looked at the tall girl and nodded wordlessly.

"Well, what ranks are Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru sensei and from what clan did you come from?" She asked again, to this, Konohamaru was the first to speak up.

"I'm a newly promoted chuunin and come from the Sarutobi clan."

"Eh? Sarutobi? That's a very famous name in the ninja world here, it is said one of their ancestors served as a vassal for Sanada Yukimura as part of the Sanada Ten Braves, de gozaru." Kaede replied, Naruto then answered with a grin, "Well, Konohamaru here is the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage of our village. So I think that's pretty famous all around the villages."

"When you earn the nickname of 'The Professor', you are bound to get famous, Naruto-nii." Konohamaru said, Naruto merely shrugged, hey, fame was something he didn't have to deal with most of the time, or so he thought.

"Kage level? That's pretty rare de gozaru."

"What about you, Naruto-sensei?" Kaede asked, Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked bashful for a moment, "Well um, I'm not a Chuunin per se, and I don't think I'm a Jounin."

"Naruto-nii cut the crap, you're a Kage level ninja with the nickname Shinku Arashi, and you're placed in the Bingo Book as one of the most, if not, THE most dangerous man in history with a double S-rank in the black market. The reward for your head is the only thing above the Yondaime Hokage's with a 'flee on sight' order." Konohamaru had butt in, Naruto silenced Konohamaru with a slap on his mouth and said to Kaede, "Well, most of it is true but I would really like it if people don't mention my name in the Bingo book as the 'the most dangerous man alive'."

Kaede suddenly had her eyes open, the blonde was a mere few steps away from her, and she couldn't feel enough power from him, was it because of how Naruto acted? Or was it because Naruto was simply not letting out that air of superiority?

These questions littered on her mind as she saw Naruto who was looking around, oblivious to the traps that lay before him and how he set them off without even noticing.

During their trip, the quintet was now near one of the restaurants in town, Chao Bao Zi.

Naruto and Konohamaru's eyes were already glistening as their stomachs growled.

"Perfect timing, we're starving!" To this, Naruto and his apprentice dashed inside intent on finally filling their stomachs with something other than ramen, or more ramen in Naruto's case.

Once inside, the two new teachers instantly recognized the three students in Negi's class, Chao Lingshen, student number 19, Hakase Satomi, student number 24 and Yotsuba Satsuki, Student number 30.

"Wow, you guys own this place?" Naruto said between bites but it was more muffled because of the noodles stuck in his mouth, to the other end of the table, Konohamaru faced the opposite direction as seeing Naruto inhaling those noodles was going to make him lose his appetite, the ramen thing was still fresh in his mind.

"Yep, I'm a business oriented student so I get to pay for my own tuition because of this restaurant!" Chao continued as Naruto kept hounding the big bowl of Ramen in his hand, he was grateful that Chao earlier gave a big serving to him and Konohamaru was got some curry, at least to tantalize his taste buds after eating sodium every morning and night.

After having their fill and a free of charge for the first time, Naruto and Konohamaru gratefully left the restaurant with a grin on their faces, but not before buying some meat buns for the trio that escorted them around the school. As soon as they got out however, a very unsightly scenario unfolded before them, five men wearing suits and shades, surrounded a group of girls that seemed like helpless little chicks that shuddered under the stature of the intimidating opposition.

Konohamaru looked serious for a moment, thinking it was time to interfere, but not before being shoved with the bag full of meat buns by Naruto who dashed towards the scene at an incredible pace, to his right, he saw Kaede stand there in awe, Konohamaru gave Kaede a meat bun as he sat down with the twins, to this, he asked Kaede, "Kaede-nee-san, do you know why Naruto-nii is nicknamed as the Shinku Arashi?"

Naruto had blurred out of her sight only to upper in the middle of the five men, his left hand grasping the ground as his leather shoes slid on the cement and letting off a plume of dust at its wake. Without warning, Naruto jumped and spun in mid air, punching a man in the face which sent the ma crashing to the ground, without as much as a second thought, Naruto weaved around the assailants who were now about to grab their weapons but seemed startled at Naruto's speed.

"It's because whenever he's on the battlefield, he moves like a force of nature."

Naruto then jumped, leaping towards one of the men as Naruto gripped the targeted man in his legs and pounded his face with his fists continuously as they fell to the ground. The man was unconscious when Naruto had suddenly jumped and somersaulted to the ground, he grabbed the unconscious man before he hit the ground and tossed him to another, who had managed to grab his gun before being tossed on a steel pole, the blow to his spine was so painful that it knocked him out.

"Naruto-nii is like a raging firestorm, every enemy around him would be utterly destroyed."

It was then that Naruto dashed the remaining two men, one of them had managed to point a gun at him, who, Naruto had managed to get close to, Naruto grabbed the extending hand that pointed the gun and Naruto took a step forward, giving a thundering elbow thrust to the man's chest that staggered him back, but not before being kicked in the face and tossing him to the nearest bush.

"What the hell is this kid?" The last man shouted, as he grabbed a knife from his coat pocket and began swiping and thrusting the blonde with it who only stepped back effortlessly from his attacks.

"Stay still, you little shit!" Shouted the man, Naruto however, remained silent as he evaded the knife attacks that seemed too sloppy for any ninja that saw it.

With a thrust of the knife, Naruto instantly bent down and grabbed the man's arm, Naruto then turned around and the tall man suddenly found himself being hip tossed to the ground. As the blonde landed the thug on the ground with a methodical thud, Naruto then cocked his arm back and smashed his fist into the man's gut forcing the man to gasp for air.

Naruto then stood up, towering over the man that was still conscious, "That's some handiwork you did earlier, chumps. Picking on three schoolgirls like that, what ever gave you an idea that this place isn't guarded by competent staff?"

The man shuddered under the frown that seemed to scream murder from the stare that Uzumaki Naruto was giving him.

"Get out or I'll be strapping you and your friends over there to a train roof to get home."

The man quickly scrambled to his feet, waking any able members of their group and got the hell out of dodge.

When the men were out of sight, the mood was suddenly replaced when one of three girls shouted, "Wow! That was so cool!"

Naruto turned around to see if any of the three girls were hurt, fortunately all of them had no bruises present on them. Naruto recognized them as members of Negi's class again, Kakizaki Misa, Student number seven, Kugimiya Madoka, student number eleven, and Sakurako Shiina, student number seventeen.

"So what did those idiots want with the three of you?" Naruto suddenly asked, the three immediately paused their celebration when they looked at the blonde with a curious look.

"W-What gave you that idea, sensei?" Shiina spoke first, stuttering under the gaze of the blonde who looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

Madoka was the first to break, "Shiina accidentally crashed into one of the men and yelled at them to apologize! They took offense to it and they were ready to take us away!"

Shiina turned to Madoka and yelled, "Traitor!"

"Anyway…" Naruto interrupted and the three cheerleaders all looked at him, "What are you guys doing here?"

Misa was the one to respond, "I could ask the same thing, sensei."

Naruto grinned and put his arms on the back of his head, "Well, I was just taking a stroll out and look around the campus, Konohamaru and I decided we needed to memorize the whole campus so that we know where to go in case we get lost."

"Oh well, then we were just about to hit another session of karaoke, would you like to join us?" Misa seemed excited about this, while the two were shouting at Misa along the lines of, "Hey, no fair!"

"You already have a boyfriend Misa, save some for us!"

By this time, Konohamaru and the three girls were already at hearing distance as the brunette asked, "What's going on here?"

Naruto was the one to answer his question, "Something about karaoke."

"What's karaoke?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto shrugged, "Hell if I know."

To this, it was as if something blasphemous had entered Misa's ears. Her head turned to the two boys in a snap, Madoka looked concerned as if she heard a veritable crack on her neck.

"That is a crime against humanity!"

To this, both Naruto and Konohamaru turned and shuddered at the enraged form of Kakizaki Misa who was by now dragging the two covert ninjas to a karaoke bar.

"You girls do know that we have classes tomorrow, right?" Konohamaru asked, the girls all looked at the two with a nod, particularly Madoka, but Misa was the one to answer, "Not knowing karaoke is the biggest sin on this earth!"

"Hey, I resent that, not tasting Ramen is the biggest sin on earth!" Naruto replied, Konohamaru sighed,

"Naruto-nii just shut up."

Later that day, Both Naruto and Konohamaru found out why they were no Sabu-chan (1) but Naruto was surprisingly good at rap (2).

The next day:

Well, it was almost eight in the evening when they went home, Naruto and Konohamaru had to escort them back at the dorm since the three of them were females and it was dark, the only practical thing they could do was to walk them to their homes before making their way back at the teachers' apartments.

They couldn't sleep well though. There was a loud sound of moaning and creaking coming from the other side of the apartment all night, if they remembered correctly that side of the apartments belonged to Takahata. At first, Naruto was scared out of his wits because he thought it was a ghost hiding under the blankets and shivering, Konohamaru just couldn't get to sleep with that racket. But he couldn't complain either, the fact that the people around them were sound asleep and they were awake may have indicated that it was a common occurrence.

Once they were inside the school grounds itself, Negi walked over to them, who immediately noticed the bags under their eyes.

"Naruto-nii-san, Konohamaru-nii-san, what happened to the two of you?" asked the youngest teacher, Naruto looked down on Negi before groaning.

"Couldn't sleep last night, too loud." Was the blonde's only reply as he walked like zombie towards the faculty, he was about to add that he had heard ghosts moaning and making creaking noises but he didn't want to sound like a complete pansy that still believes in children's stories like that.

"Oh I see, did you find out what was the source of the noise?"

Konohamaru was the one to reply, "No… It was up all night until 2AM. Naruto-nii and I couldn't complain since most of the teachers didn't."

"Anyway nii-sans, I found a person who allowed me to make a contract with!" Negi responded, to this, the two stared at him in disbelief as Negi continued exuberantly, "Asuna-san became my partner since yesterday!"

"Great, so how did you make the contract?" Negi asked, to this, the white ermine had popped up from Negi's shoulders and whispering, "By letting ane-san kiss Negi-aniki!"

Konohamaru's lower right eyelid twitched and said to Naruto, "You sick bastard! You were going to let me kiss a ten year old kid who's a boy?"

To this Naruto instantly defended himself, "I didn't know, I swear! And ew, Konohamaru, that is disgusting just thinking about it!"

"Gah! Stop suggesting it! Don't make me have any ideas as well!"

Both began bickering as they opened the door and went to their desks. Shizuna, who looked like she went through a wind tunnel and a little bag under her eyes, chuckled lightly as the two ninjas were arguing before leaving the room.

"Those two are more like siblings rather than master and student." She said, before sitting down on her desk and drinking her coffee.

"Shizuna-sensei, what happened to you?" Negi suddenly asked, Shizuna immediately replied with a sing song voice, "Oh just some accident, I had a lot of work yesterday, fell on my chair and woke up late this morning."

"You heard the moans and creaking like last night, too?" Negi asked, Shizuna looked a little flustered at that.

"Oh it was nothing, now where did you get that idea?"

"Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei said that there was something that kept bothering them all night, they couldn't get much sleep and I swear Naruto-sensei turns pale every time he mentions it." Negi mentioned to this, Shizuna's coffee almost spilled from her hands.

She just hoped that Naruto and Konohamaru didn't notice that it was _something _else entirely.

"Is something wrong, Shizuna-sensei?" Negi innocently asked, Shizuna just ruffled the ten year-old's head and said, "Oh nothing, just a little tired."

Shizuna would later talk to Takahata to put a silencing spell all around HIS apartment next time.

Later that day:

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Naruto asked, looking slightly worried about what the girl in front of her was asking of him.

"I want to know how far I've come to face a kage level shinobi, de gozaru." Kaede replied, to this Naruto bowed his head in acceptance.

"Alright then, let's see how far you can go!" It was then that Naruto had suddenly dashed towards Kaede and true to Konohamaru's words, Naruto ran like an unpredictable force of nature.

As Kaede blocked when Naruto delivered a punch, the blonde instantly jumped and twisted his body as he did so. Kaede slid back a little from the force of Naruto's attack, and then the blonde tried to deliver a powerful kick to her face; Kaede reacted by ducking and letting the kick miss her completely.

It was then that Kaede stepped back, hopping away from Naruto to get to a proper distance. The blonde's punch was one thing to be impressed about, but the speed was on another level, she had never thought just how much Naruto was able to go past her expectations so much! And this was a person that is barely using any Ninjutsu at all! It was then that she felt Naruto close to her side as he was making his way towards her; Naruto looked completely fierce, like a wild animal, completely scary as it was thrilling.

When Kaede was able to use Shundo (Art of instant movement) to get behind the blonde, Naruto's body flickered in and out of sight, blurring past Kaede's vision as she felt a solid blow to her left shoulder connecting, immediately, Kaede was on her legs immediately as soon as she was struck down, taking a step back and cradling her left shoulder that now sported a small bruise.

She was suddenly hit with a blow to her stomach and found Naruto suddenly in front of her.

As she landed on the ground, he could see the fierce look of Naruto's blue eyes like azure flame, deep and piercing, of all the features to be covered by his shadow, his eyes remained unhidden, bright blue and truly breathtaking.

Kaede recovered immediately as Kaede had split into twelve clones of herself. Naruto heard their footsteps to determine that they were solid clones, to his surprise and wonder, Kaede had not felt winded in using such a taxing jutsu. But Naruto grinned, instantly crouching down, the wind began to pick up pace, as it began encircling the blonde in a tumultuous show of force, as if Naruto was preparing to run. His hair and clothing danced with the wind as the ground instantly caved in below him, a fierce grin escaped his lips as he said to Kaede.

"It's pretty impressive that you can create solid clones of yourself with that many and still aren't winded in any way shape or form." The blonde said, Kaede replied, thinking that the blonde was underestimating her, "Kage Bunshin isn't exactly a complex technique, de gozaru."

"To us it's complex. That because you have to divide your energy in two, it's hard when you have to fight with half of your strength, and although they are solid, they dispel in one hit."

"That isn't exactly what I'd call a practical skill, de gozaru."

"Oh you'd be surprised." Naruto replied

It was then that Naruto had appeared between above the clones, delivering a solid punch to one of them, Naruto quickly reacted seeing this much clones, he clapped his hands together to form the seal of the dragon, and flicked both his hands, revealing a pair of kunai knives hidden underneath his sleeve, blue energy began extending from them as he vanished like the wind and reappeared a few yards away. The clones dispelling and a tearing of clothes occurred next.

Curious, Naruto turned around and was red in the face when Naruto had accidentally managed to cut Kaede's uniform and showing off her assets.

"Ohohoho, I never knew Naruto-sensei was such a pervert, de gozaru."

Naruto's only reply was to roll his eyes back and let a little bit of his blood trickle down his nose before fainting on the spot.

To be continued…

* * *

1 This is the Enka-nin that Killer Bee had trained with to learn the art of singing Enka. First appearance: Naruto Chapter 468, page 12: Hachibi and Kyuubi

2 Naruto, upon meeting Killer Bee and their little stint, soon learns how to get along with Killer Bee to the point that both of them began rapping with each other. Much to Yamato's displeasure. Naruto Chapter 495, Page 2: Dark Naruto, Destroyed!


	3. Calm before the Storm

Chapter Three: Calm Before the Storm

* * *

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Konohamaru asked to no one in particular, Negi, Asuna and Chamo had dragged him to tail Chachamaru since Naruto was no where to be seen, it was a good thing there weren't any classes in this period or else he would have been more pissed off. The fact that the blonde was missing was already ticking him off, leave it to the blonde to finish his paper work half done. Whatever mannerism Jiraiya had, it seemed it was unknowingly passed on to Naruto as well.

Aside from that, this whole stalking-the-student-while-watching-her-feed-cats thing was leaving a bad taste in his mouth. It looked like Chachamaru was far too kind for her own good.

"That's because we're going for a sneak attack! This is a pre-emptive strike! If we can take out the minister magi first, then the Magister Magi would be easier! Harden your resolves!" Chamo was the one to answer, although in a more subdued manner, the little rat was talking enthusiastically. Konohamaru rolled his eyes at the unlikely creature that was spouting out heartless battle plans to a ten year old, it wasn't a pretty sight.

"Then why are we doing it in broad daylight?" The brunette asked, as the four walked cautiously and stayed hidden from Chachamaru's sight.

"You have experiences is this kind of thing?" Asuna was the one to ask but then remembered Konohamaru and Naruto's real occupation.

"Of course, when it's darker, there's more cover, more time for us to move and less people to witness it." Konohamaru mentioned and then added, "We had our share of sneak attacks in broad daylight too but it was faster and really messy."

To this Konohamaru looked up and thought about Naruto's exploits in using sneak attacks.

"Of course if some of you can withstand bodily pain good enough while the rest time a moment to take down that girl then it might work."

Asuna then pointed to Chamo, "Alright Chamo, you distract Chachamaru for us!"

Chamo panicked "What? You're being too cruel, ane-san! Do you want me to die?"

Konohamaru wordlessly patted the ermine on the head as if trying to sympathize with it before saying, "Your sacrifice won't be in vain, Chamo-kun."

"WHAT? You really do want me to die!"

Konohamaru seemed relaxed about it though, "Oh please, you won't die. You'll just be in intense pain for the next five minutes or so, nothing bad."

Chamo didn't look convinced.

With that, Konohamaru grabbed Chamo with his hand and said, "God speed, Chamo-kun!"

"THIS IS ANIMAL CRUEELLLLLTTTTYYYYY!" Was all Chamo could say before being thrown towards Chachamaru's direction.

Chamo was blasted to Chachamru full speed like a bullet. The cats, feeling that their danger senses were ticking suddenly scattered about, running for their lives, the robot girl raised her synthetic eyebrow at this sudden predicament when she felt a slight nudge on her back and sounded like a toy giving a squeak.

**SQUEAK!**

Chachamaru turned around and found Chamo with a bandage on its forehead and visibly unconscious. Curiously, the girl picked up the unconscious ferret from the ground and found it twitching.

The said robot used her biometric scan and miraculously found no damages on the rat's person.

Interestingly enough, the heart rate and brain activity that the ferret was showing indicated that he should be awake.

"Ermine-san."

Chamo visibly flinched. Inwardly, he panicked. There was no way in hell could he withstand a punch coming from an android like this!

"Now's your chance, Negi!" the little rat shouted.

It was then that Asuna and Negi had jumped out of the bush, Konohamaru casually walking behind them.

"So much for a sneak attack." Mumbled the brunette as he sighed, he was obviously reluctant on doing so because Chachamaru had been helping kids left and right, helped an elderly woman cross the road and had been feeding cats as she got to the park. As if that wasn't enough, Chamo had suddenly jumped at the chance that presented itself by shouting what they were about to do.

Yeah, it wasn't going well for him.

"I see you have found more than one partner this time, Negi-sensei. Am I to assume that you are about to attack me now?" Chachamaru asked

Konohamaru flinched at that, so the girl was prepared for such an event too. Talk about a back up plan.

"Very well, I will comply with your request." Was all Chachamaru had said before dashing towards the trio, throwing Chamo to the side as the said ferret bounced on the ground.

"PAIN!" Chamo shouted as the said ermine nursed his back.

"Damn it! Negi, step back and do your spells, now! Asuna, you're going to back me up!" Konohamaru was quick to bark the orders as both Negi and Asuna did so. Negi held his staff horizontally and said as the brunette and Asuna were dashing at Chachamaru, "Activate the contract for ten seconds for the disciple of Negi Springfield, Asuna Kagurazaka!"

Konohamaru was the first to dash at Chachamaru, concentrating chakra on his feet, the ethereal blue energy began to collect at his soles, Konohamaru suddenly jumped, flipping his body and flicking his left hand letting go of a shuriken from his sleeve. Chachamaru caught the flying star directly at him but was suddenly pushed back when Asuna had appeared in front of her and pushed her away. Quick to react, Chachamaru nimbly used her free hand to do a handstand and threw the offending weapon back at Konohamaru who parried the shuriken with a kunai that he grabbed from his back pocket.

Chachamaru wasn't done yet and then immediately used her legs to grab Konohamaru by the shoulders, she twisted and turned her body with her hands and threw the brunette towards Asuna who was about to go for Chachamaru. Asuna instantly reacted seeing Konohamaru being sent at her, she ducked out of the way as the said boy rolled in mid air and landed on the ground, skidding back by a few meters short to Negi. As Chachamaru was closing in on Asuna, Konohamaru instantly dashed. With a kunai held in his hand, the brunette began to feed chakra into it, expanding and causing enough friction that it literally set his kunai on fire.

Chachamaru used a kick at Asuna who stepped back only to be met with a punch coming from Chachamaru straight to her cheek. Asuna didn't even notice before it was too late as the fist was about to collide with her face, she felt an arm grabbing her by the waist and looked down, Konohamaru pulled her away before the fist could come in contact with her face. She looked to Konohamaru's other hand as the blade of the knife that he held were in flames. But not before twisting his body in opposite direction and the kunai going below her mere centimetres away from her skirt as Konohamaru threw it with a shout.

"Katon: Kouenga! (Fire Release: Blazing tiger fang)"

At the same time, Negi had finished his chanting as streams of wind began escaping around him.

"Sagitaur Magica Serius Rukiis! (Magic Projectile Barrage: Arrows of light)"

The streams of wind scattered about and headed their way toward Chachamaru, what she noticed however was the kunai set on fire with the wind arrows as the fire instantly began to eat the winds as it streamed its way towards Chachamaru.

In that immediate moment, Chachamaru had suddenly said, without a hint of emotion in her voice, "I'm sorry master, if I cease to function, please remember to feed the cats."

Konohamaru's blood suddenly ran cold when Negi had suddenly fallen with his decision and decided to return the said arrows. Before Asuna could react, Konohamaru was already on the move, his hands clasping for a hand seal before dashing towards Negi.

"You owe me for this, Negi!" Konohamaru shouted as his body flickered out of Asuna's vision and suddenly saw Konohamaru tackling Negi before a resounding explosion had hit the place.

The force of the blast propelled Konohamaru and Negi away from being directly hit and being incinerated, luckily for Negi, Konohamaru saved him just in time.

The kunai that Konohamaru threw at Chachamaru easily missed her face. The brunette had never intended to hit her with the blade. The force of the wind drastically changed the trajectory of the said projectile. Judging from the way that the shinobi had used that technique, she could make the decision that he timed the spell coming from Negi-sensei well enough that the technique he did earlier amplified its destructive capabilities earlier on.

Seeing that the battle was over, Chachamaru propelled herself away from the trio. Dirty and muddy, Chachamaru felt that this was probably one of the closest battles that had almost decommissioned her; if it wasn't for Konohamaru-sensei, things would have ended easier. The need to study Konohamaru-sensei and Naruto-sensei was quietly growing inside of her.

Down below, Konohamaru gasped for air with his mouth breathing deeply and saying to Negi, "You okay, kid?"

Negi nodded before Konohamaru flinched. The brunette fell to the ground the back of his shirt was completely burned off, with blisters forming on his back. It seemed Konohamaru was caught in the firestorm that happened earlier.

Asuna ran to the two, looking worried for a moment until she stopped and saw the pattern of five kanji, fire on the base of his neck, wind on his right shoulder blade, lightning on the lower right side of his torso, earth on his lower left torso and water on the back of his left shoulder blade imprinted in black ink. Even though the blisters from the burns had somehow malformed the writings, the ink remained intact on his skin.

Negi looked on in shock, he had never meant for this to happen, Konohamaru-nii-san wasn't supposed to get hurt!

"Negi, you and I need to think up of a better way to handle those two." Konohamaru mentioned as he flicked the red headed boy on the forehead. Negi flinched a little and held his forehead. He couldn't complain however, as the agony that Konohamaru was feeling right now must be ten times worse.

"That was for stupidly returning a spell back at you when you could have had then hit something else." Konohamaru said with a forced smile before losing consciousness.

"K…hamaru…-san! W…ke up!"

It was all he could hear before succumbing to the darkness.

* * *

Naruto:

Naruto grumbled as he entered the classroom of 3A. He was giving off a small supplementary class that wouldn't last for another hour, only for ten or so minutes to help some of the students who were interested.

After his 'spar' with Kaede, he found himself sitting underneath the shade of a tall tree. With a note from the kunoichi that said she had a wonderful time and hoped for another one. Naruto had to ask himself if it gave off a different meaning than what was originally intended and then asked himself further why he wished it happened.

But that was not the reason of his ire. No, that note was sincere in a very friendly way that happened to sound like a double entendre or whatever that was. It was the fact that his apprentice had forgotten his share of the paperwork and he had to do it before a teacher's meeting later on! Naruto was feeling absolutely pissed off because not only he had to do paperwork, he had to go to his classes as well! That little runt had three consecutive hours of free time and he couldn't even make use of it of helping Naruto out with HIS paperwork! To makes matters worse, he couldn't speed up the process with Kage Bunshin because of the restriction he and his apprentice were placed on!

Then there was the fact that he hadn't gotten any sleep. He swore that the place they were staying was haunted. Those moans were not meant to be heard! It was creepy as hell and had a lot of banging (no pun intended!) going on!

Naruto let out a frustrated sigh in his class as the class of 3A looked at Naruto curiously.

"Naruto-sensei, are you tired?" Asked one of the girls, Naruto looked at the student with long flowing black hair tied into a pony tail, she looked concerned for a moment until Naruto gave a weak grin.

"Ah, Akira-chan… Yeah, I'm fine; I was just up really late last night." Said the blonde, he wouldn't dare say he got scared of the things that go bump in the night the evening before. That would hurt his pride as a man. And as a man, he must never admit his fears for fear of ridicule!

The blonde was about to write something on the board when he heard one of his students, a girl with short gray hair had suddenly burst into the room, if Naruto remembered correctly, this was Ako Izumi, the student that occasionally helps out in the infirmary.

"Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei just arrived at the infirmary, he was gravely injured earlier!"

Naruto immediately closed his book and set it down on the table, without as much as a reason why he was about to leave class, he made a mad dash outside to which; the girls had an impressed look on their faces.

"Wow, I never knew Naruto-sensei was that fast!" One of them mentioned.

Naruto soon arrived on the infirmary, looking with a frown for the first time. Negi, who looked like he was about to wet himself seeing Naruto's frown for the first time, was sitting at the side with a gauze on his right cheek and Chamo sitting on his lap with bandages wrapped around his body. Asuna was standing at the side who was looking concerned at what the master of Konohamaru might say.

Naruto however, ignored the two and immediately went for the closed curtains only to find Konohamaru lying prone on the bed, sleeping. He looked to the side and found Shizuna who had explained to him what happened.

To this, Shizuna asked him, "Naruto-sensei, I have to ask, the pattern on Konohamaru-sensei's back, what they indicate?"

Naruto sighed and sat on the edge of Konohamaru's seat, obviously somewhat relieved on Konohamaru's condition. His eyes turned to slits as he began his explanation.

"The Gogyofuin (Five Element seal) was originally meant for suppressing chakra, the mixture of physical and spiritual energy, to the point where the body's system would adjust to the flow of minimal chakra that allows more control. It's in the notes that my teacher left for me."

To this, the blonde gave a brief demonstration with his right hand, the tips of each of his fingers gave off an ethereal blue glow and five kanji, identical to Konohamaru's markings, appeared on each of his fingers.

"I modified the seal to experiment if an ordinary ninja can do all five elemental based Ninjutsu because of the limit a normal shinobi has is two elements. Needless to say, after my countless experiments for weeks, it was my first success in the sealing arts by just drifting the characters apart from each other for chakra to fluctuate in and out of the seals and cause the chakra to be converted to the type of element that the user wants. The downside is the painful process of the sealing itself, it would take days for a person to recover from the ritual and the fact it's hard to manipulate a certain element that you're not naturally inclined in unless you train hard enough that your body starts breaking down every week. Konohamaru was hospitalized for eight days and continued to get hospitalized weeks after that due to exhaustion. So far, he's had a good grasp of his primary element which is fire, then his second element which is earth. Water, wind and lightning, he has had a few jutsu for them, but he doesn't use it unless he really thinks it's needed or suits his situation until he can adapt to the elemental manipulation fully."

Overhearing the conversation, Negi was the one to ask, "Why did Konohamaru-sensei go so far, Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto looked at the child with the pet and the girl that had bells for her pig tails and told them to come inside.

"It's best you hear this while no one is around. Asuna since you already know about Negi's existence as a mage and know about the activities that we do around here, it might as well include you. I'll remind you Negi, once you hear this story, your view of us would be far different from what you see us today." Naruto mentioned as he crossed his arms. Shizuna had locked the door of the infirmary to hear what he had to say. It was fortunate that his class was already over and his rounds were done. The paperwork, he would have to deal with it later.

"As you all know, both of us come from a place where it's far too different from your own. We didn't come from an isolated part of the village, but rather, we came from a different world." Naruto spoke, Negi raised his hand.

"Yes, Negi?"

"Different world… Does that mean you guys come from a different planet?"

"In a matter, yes, we came from different planet or to be more precise, from a different dimension."

Asuna looked confused at this, "Wha-? I don't get any of that!"

"Asuna, it means that we come from a world similar to yours yet different at the same time due to the fact that the laws defined in your world are completely different from ours. Such as the case of our expression of abilities like magic to yours were you needed to recite incantations to our ability to use chakra and perform jutsu using hand seals." Naruto helpfully reminded.

To emphasize Naruto's point, he placed his hands together for the seal used in Kage Bunshin and then continued.

"Anyway, as I was saying, a year before we got marooned on this dimension, we were under a huge world war. Konohamaru and I… We were members of our village's shinobi force. We were soldiers, Negi."

* * *

_Flashback, one and a half year ago:_

"_This is a letter for a courier mission to Kumogakure. We need aide and supplies for the upcoming war." Tsunade handed the scroll over to Ebisu who dutifully accepted the letter._

"_Aside from that, I'm assigning another team with you, one that will pose as a dummy group while one of you carries the letter. This is an important mission bordering A-rank in terms of priority those supplies would mostly benefit our soldiers on the frontline while our manhunt for Madara continues." Tsunade continued, to this Konohamaru raised his right hand,_

"_Yeah, I just had to ask, but where is Naruto-nii-san?" Asked the grandson of the third Hokage, Naruto had been missing for days ever since his mission to Iron. Many of the village folk were getting worried sick._

"_He's on a place that I can't disclose right now, our number one priority in this war is his and eight tails' Jinchuuriki's safety. The Four Kages had an immediate agreement with this one; I opposed it as a matter that they would a great asset for us. But I was simply overruled by the majority." Tsunade continued, Konohamaru looked serious for once._

"_Do you think that he'd stand idly before this war breaks out?" Konohamaru asked, he knew Naruto too much. Naruto was not one to sit down especially to something this big._

"_I know but for some reason, he willingly accepted the mission. Yamato is with him in case something drastic happens. But I can't keep this a secret from him forever." Tsunade mentioned, looking down, she knew sooner or later, Naruto would know what was happening. Naruto already knew war was already brewing, but he didn't know that they were the ones to take the initial strike._

_Konohamaru was silent for a moment before his team began to pack and get ready for the mission. Before turning around and walking away, the brunette said to Tsunade, "Naruto-nii would be coming back here absolutely pissed, you know? Just like that time with Pain."_

_With that, Konohamaru left the office and closed the door behind him._

_Tsunade could only nod her head, and looked at the paperwork on her desk._

_Were they correct on the decision to keep Naruto and Bee out of the fight? Or will the effect of the blow of not having these two would result in a loss on their part that would lead to their enslavement?_

_Tsunade hoped that the latter would not be the case._

_Northern border of Fire country:_

_It had been three days since their departure, and now that they were near the border, the two teams began trekking faster than before._

_Moving to an unknown territory was moving into hostile territory. On these lands, everything was free game. Missing Nin were constantly on the prowl and with war brewing closer and closer, hoarders became more and more apparent. Like an itch that you just couldn't rid off, there was something that was bothering Konohamaru like a plague. One of the members from the other team must have felt it as well as he looked absolutely perturbed._

"_I sense a chakra signal coming at us three miles from here, at one o'clock." Said the boy, he was the sensor of the group._

"_Udon-kun, can you confirm that?"_

_Udon nodded and clasped his hand together in a seal, he nodded._

"_Can you determine how many minutes can he come in contact with us?" Asked the team leader of the other group, Udon shook his head and said with a confused look, "No, it's too erratic, it's like he's slipping and sliding around. I can't determine his ETA."_

"_Well then, I suggest we pick up the pace more and go for a mad dash towards Lightning Country. Konohamaru-kun, Udon-kun, Moegi-kun, Team 14, I suggest we use Shunshin no Jutsu every few seconds until we can get to the border. We can't call for back up. This is an important mission, the more we stall; the more we lose time." Replied Ebisu as they all prepared to flicker out of sight it was only then that a gigantic snake had suddenly popped up from the ground below making its way upwards at an incredible speed. The one taken by surprise, was the sensei of the other platoon."_

_The snake raced its way up like a rocket quickly taking out the captain with a bite to the throat. The venom had spread quickly as the man lay dead in its mouth before vanishing in a cloud of smoke._

_Cursing inwardly, Ebisu chose this moment to flick his hands together to form a seal._

"_Ninpo: Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique)!" Ebisu shouted letting a flurry of shuriken fly below forcing out their enemy from hiding. The hooded figure jumped from the foliage below and into the canopy of branches above. Quickly making work of the opposite team, the man's hand glowed in blue chakra swiping one the throat in a surgical manner, cutting the smooth muscle beneath and chocking the sensor of the other team. The boy fell on the ground without as much as look of shock on his face before he began choking and clutching his neck before finally suffocating and dying with his eyes wide open._

_Ebisu stepped forward going in for the kill as he saw two of his comrades die easily, he could not let this go on, he had to do something to prevent more deaths._

_The man's back sprouted forth a white snake that bit the kunai that Ebisu had in his right hand. Surprised at this, Ebisu didn't see Kabuto step forward ad delivering a powerful punch straight to his cheek and sending him flying to the other tree. _

"_Get away from us, you freak!" Said one of the members flicking his hands to seal and performing a Goukakyou no Jutsu, the boy fired the large ball of flame towards the hooded man who simply stood in its way before being consumed and incinerated him whole._

_The boy relaxed for a moment before he felt a kunai going past his throat. The boy didn't have time to register what happened when the man grabbed another kunai and impaled the boy straight between the eyes._

_The girl from team fourteen screamed in unholy terror as she flicked her hands in a seal, "TETSU! YOU BASTARD! GENJUTSU: NARAKUMI NO JUTS-"_

_She was cut off when she felt a bite on her neck, too shocked to change her expression to grimace, she felt the snake toss her away like a ragdoll and straight into the flames that the boy earlier did. Burning her alive. Her horrified screams filled the air as she felt the fires eat away at her flesh before succumbing to the flames._

"_Shit! Udon! Get out of here with Moegi! I'll distract him while you get away! You have the parchment with you, we lose it, we fail the mission, head straight to Lightning Country as soon as you can!" Before Konohamaru can bark another order, a mess of snakes had appeared from below the brunette. Konohamaru inwardly cursed under his breath as he grabbed a kunai from his pouch tied with an explosive note._

"_Don't look down on me, asshole!" Said the boy flicking the kunai at the group of snakes before being engulfed in the explosion, the said boy landed on another branch as he said to Udon and Moegi, "What are you two idiots, standing there for! Get out of here, now!"_

"_But…"Moegi protested but Konohamaru cut him off._

"_The war won't end quickly if you two just stand there! Don't worry. I'm not the student of Naruto-nii for nothing!" Konohamaru reassured them. Moegi and Udon soon turned tail and ran._

"_Oh, a student of Uzumaki Naruto, you say?" The hooded figure finally said before giving off a small laugh._

"_You're facing the rival of Uzumaki Naruto to the seat of the Hokage, I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru of the Sarutobi household, and you'd do well to remember it, asshole!" Konohamaru mentioned intently pointing to himself with his thumb._

"_I see, not just a student but a rival as well… Then do provide me with the entertainment that I felt when I fought with Naruto-kun back then." The man said amusedly, only a smile escaped from the shadowed man's face._

"_My name is Yakushi Kabuto by the way and must you know, Naruto-kun has already beaten me twice." To this, Kabuto finally showed his face, his eyes were now gold, the pupils were slits and the purple eyeliner was reaching down to the bridge of his nose._

"_Well then, Konohamaru-kun… I suggest you make the first move, or else, I might just go after your precious comrades." He said that last part with an amused smile and saw Konohamaru quickly changing from desperation and fear to absolute anger and rage._

"_You won't go after my friends, you sick bastard!" Konohamaru shouted as he placed his hands in a seal this time, ending it with the seal of the tiger._

"_Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)" Konohamaru shouted letting out a flurry of fire balls continuously blasting Kabuto in short bursts. Kabuto slithered and slide as he evaded the burning projectiles sent at him by the brunette. He stopped when a fireball had almost hit him in the face only to be followed by another and another until he was completely engulfed in flames._

_The smoke below Konohamaru billowed like a cloud of ash. Burning anything beneath it, Konohamaru suddenly felt the immense killing intent being sent at him until he finally saw a white snake lashing out to him from beneath the sea of flames he created._

_The snake coiled and struck at Konohamaru with lightning speed, the boy, quick to react jumped away from the snake as it crashed into the branch that Konohamaru stepped on before latching itself above the branch that it once destroyed. Konohamaru looked below, and saw the cloak being burned off and a pale white hand outstretched to him, slowly chaffing from the intense heat._

"_He shed his own skin!" Konohamaru noticed too late before feeling a hand grab him from the neck and was slowly choking him. To his surprise, he saw Kabuto holding him with a grin on his face and a kunai in hand._

"_Surprised, Konohamaru-kun? Did you really think a jutsu of that level would be enough to deal with me?" Kabuto asked with that same smile, it made Konohamaru rage inside more as he felt he was slammed with the trunk behind him._

"_I do believe that I was underestimated there for no apparent reason, and now, you're going to sacrifice yourself for a failed mission." Kabuto said but Konohamaru gave a weak grin, before finally saying._

"_Who said anything about underestimating you or that this mission was a failure?" Konohamaru defiantly asked, Kabuto simply chuckled as he said, "You really do act like Naruto-kun… Though I do feel quite a bit of disappointment, I expected that you acted more like your grandfather."_

"_Then be prepared to be disappointed even more!" Shouted the boy before vanishing in a cloud of smoke, a sound of grinding could be heard at his back._

'_Kage Bunshin! Then that means that the sound on my back is…' Kabuto turned to look around in surprise as he saw Konohamaru about to deliver an orb of spiralling chakra straight to his face._

"_RASENGAN!" The brunette shouted, delivering the small orb of destruction straight at Kabuto's face._

_Konohamaru then saw Kabuto being hit with it in the face with the Rasengan, Kabuto couldn't help but raise his hands to grab the Konohamaru's arms and aim it away only to be met in a futile effort as Konohamaru began driving the said technique straight to his face. Kabuto was sent flying away from the brunette as the force of the attack blasted Kabuto in a spiralling direction._

_As Kabuto smashed into a tree on the opposite direction to where Konohamaru was the brunette gave a sigh of relief as he sat down, breathing hard. He could not believe it, he defeated Kabuto! He beat that son of a bitch like a ragdoll; no way is Naruto going to believe this! But before he could speak, a chuckling voice invaded his ears._

"_Do not think that you have already won, Konohamaru-kun. I wonder though, how fast will you be able to keep up with me before I kill your friends?"_

_Konohamaru witnessed the body of Kabuto, whose face was disfigured earlier, whose brains should have burst from the impact of the Rasengan, suddenly turn into mud, oozing down from the trunk and into the ground._

"_I've had played with you long enough, it's time I get the job done. It wouldn't do me good if Madara lost in this war." With that, the voice faded into nothingness before giving off a small laugh. Konohamaru, in lieu of frustration, began to jump from branch to branch, going after Udon and Moegi before it was too late._

_As he tried to run after the duo, his sensei had suddenly followed him, holding his side. He looked like he was in pain and blood was coming out of his lips. By the looks of it, he was suffering from a few broken ribs._

"_Konohamaru-kun, once we get to Udon-kun and Moegi-kun, get out of here as soon as you can!"_

_With the importance of the mission at hand, Konohamaru could only nod._

_With Moegi and Udon:_

_It was disconcerting in leaving behind their leader like that. It was even more disconcerting in seeing him shiver in fright earlier as he saw his comrades die like that. Konohamaru might have seen death like he did when Konoha was at Pain's mercy, but Udon was the first to witness such brutal deaths like that, he didn't even know that girl earlier could scream like that. It was something he would rather not hear again. As soon as Konohamaru ordered them to get out of the hot zone, Udon still felt that he needed to do something. With that, he grabbed a scroll from his pack and began copying the address to the Raikage. He looked at Moegi and then said, "Moegi, you hold on to the scroll for me, we're going to separate from here. Just in case Konohamaru-kun doesn't manage to hold off that person, you're going to act as the courier in our team."_

"_But…"_

"_I'm sorry, but this mission is too important, we need the supplies badly, Moegi. If we go to this war without the much needed aid, we would have already lost." Udon said and grabbed an identical scroll from his pocket this time._

"_Keep it safe, Moegi." Was all Udon could say before Moegi felt tears coming down her cheeks._

"_Alright, I'll hold on to this, just make sure you stay alive! I'm going to deliver the message along with a few reinforcements!" Moegi said before separating from Udon._

_Udon gave a sigh of relief as he kept running to a different direction, towards another outpost close to Lightning country. He was stopped however, when Kabuto had jumped down before him with a smile._

_"You have the message, don't you?" Said the white haired man, giving off a smile that looked enough to scare him out of his wits, Udon didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the man's forehead and found no insignia of the mighty Kumo Shinobi force._

_To this, Udon grabbed a kunai and jumped back._

_Kabuto merely gave a small smile before his hand glowed with a blue light._

_Flashback end:

* * *

_

"Then what happened?" Asuna asked, on the edge of her seat, it was obvious that she was very nervous at what happened, who knew that the thirteen year old teacher witnessed something as horrifying as that! It was too horrible in her opinion! Negi however, was looking pale; it was a scary thought that Konohamaru had to face such a powerful monster.

"Udon got killed with a strike to the chest." Said the voice, raspy and groggy at the same time, by the sound of it, he was tired too.

"Glad to see you're awake, Konohamaru." Naruto commented, Konohamaru however, scowled.

"It'd take more than a few burns to bring me down. By the way, you really shouldn't talk about my past like that, Naruto-nii, what if I told them about yours?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto only gave a smile.

"Then it's your decision." Naruto commented. Konohamaru just sighed and said, "Even if we succeeded in giving the letter, a loss of more than half of our team was considered a failure in Konoha's mission guidelines. My grandfather, the third Hokage, made it a requirement that we should at least go back home in one piece."

"At that time, I took my training even more seriously. I began reading more Justus meant for Katon, and began looking for a second element that could prove useful for me to avoid cover my weakness in Katon Ninjutsu. I even underwent a secret training regimen with the summoning contract I made. Even if my team was pulled out of missions and Ebisu-sensei had to go serve as a ninja on the frontlines. While I was given a field promotion, I was forced to take a break from taking missions and participating in the war, it was then that I discovered that Naruto-nii had come barging in Konoha about not being enlisted in the war and learning that he had been studying Fuinjutsu as well."

Konohamaru pointed his thumb at Naruto who gave a grin.

"I told him what happened earlier and discovered that he was trying to make a seal that allowed normal shinobi to use all five elemental Ninjutsu, I volunteered for it to be placed on me and the rest is history."

Chamo looked like he was on the verge of tears as did Negi. Negi was the one to say between sobs, "Konohamaru-nii-san, I now realize just how trivial my problems were compared to yours!"

Konohamaru stared at them with a bewildered look before chuckling and finally going for a full blown laughter. Negi and Chamo looked confused as did the rest inside the room. Has Konohamaru gone insane?

"Don't worry about it, Negi, Chamo; I've already paid my dues to Udon. Besides, Naruto-nii was the one to defeat Kabuto for a third straight time." Konohamaru pointed to Naruto who chuckled and ruffled the brunette's head much to Konohamaru's displeasure.

"I'm not a kid anymore, you know." Konohamaru grumbled, Naruto then said, "Of course you aren't. You're my apprentice and it's good to know that my apprentice has already moved on with his life."

Asuna did a double take here, "Wait, wait, wait! Konohamaru's your apprentice, Naruto?"

Naruto simply nodded, "Yep, been my subordinate for over a year now. The kid is a lot like his grandfather in a sense."

"If you already have an apprentice, just how strong could you be at that age?" Asuna asked, Naruto gave a foxy grin, Negi could have sworn that Naruto grew a pair of fox ears over his head and a tail behind his back.

"It's a secret!" He replied with a mischievous grin before Konohamaru decided finally get up and put on a spare shirt coming from the infirmary.

"By the way, Naruto-nii, how's the research going?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto flinched a little and scratched the back of his head with a smile.

"Err… I haven't had the time to properly formulate a dimensional travelling seal. On the bright side though, I've made a discovery on Hiraishin!" Naruto exuberantly proclaimed with a shine in his eyes that could have blinded anyone in the room.

Shizuna, Negi and Asuna looked at them confused and asked at the same time, "A lightning rod?"

To this, Naruto grinned and said, "No, I meant as in, Flying Thunder God, it's a lost skill in our time that bends the fabric of time and space and gives the user a limited amount of teleportation. It's the skill one of our former Hokages carried."

"You guys keep saying all about this Hokage stuff, what is it anyway?" Asuna asked, Konohamaru was the one to answer,

"It's not what, Asuna, it's who." Konohamaru mentioned and then continued, "The Hokage is the symbol of strength in our village, and she's the leader who remains as the strongest of all the ninjas there. Also, Naruto-nii, you said that how many times now?"

"Ten times to be exact. Why?" Naruto mentioned, Konohamaru sighed in exasperation, "It was a rhetorical question."

"Ah, who cares? I've made a modification for the seal! I now can teleport for short distances! Look!" It was then that Naruto vanished from his sight when he was sucked in a bubble and appeared outside of the room in a flash.

"A few more fixes and Hiraishin won't be a far off dream ever again!" Naruto mentioned outside. He was extremely lucky enough that no student was present outside, or else it would have been one awful headache.

Naruto reappeared inside the room with a smile on his face and waved at Konohamaru who suddenly jumped back in surprise.

'_D-Damn it! That really surprised me!'_ Konohamaru thought before clenching his fists as both he and Naruto headed out of the infirmary, Konohamaru made sure to put bandages on his torso to make sure no one could see the newly formed flesh from the burns he had suffered earlier.

* * *

The next morning:

"Negi, what?" Naruto asked as he was approached by Asuna and Chamo, he and Konohamaru were in a nearby forest doing some training for the brunette with a jutsu or two that he promised, so far, there were some improvements.

There were two jutsus that complimented Konohamaru's affinities.

Katon: Karyuudan (Fire release: Fire Dragon Bullet) and Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation technique).

"Negi ran away?" Asked the brunette who was panting, drinking some water from the canteen that was placed near the tree.

Asuna only nodded and refused to look at the two because of one thing. Both were shirtless and if she looked any further, her face would blush at the sight of perfectly built bodies of teenagers.

"Oh, alright, my clones will help search, we'll let you know if one of them sees him." Naruto mentioned and performed the shadow clone technique; multiplying himself to one hundred replicas of himself that jumped and began roaming all around the school.

"Now don't you let your pretty little head have any worries about that kid, we'll find him in no time!" Naruto said with a smile as Asuna blushed at the unexpected but innocent flirting that the blonde sent her way.

"S-Shut up! Just let me know if you've seen the brat!" Asuna said as Naruto and Konohamaru looked confused. They looked at each other and shrugged.

"What was that about?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto merely shrugged again and motioned for Konohamaru to get back to his training.

Naruto then sat down in lotus position and began to think, he looked at the seal pattern placed on the scroll laid out on the ground. He wondered just what kind of seal would be needed to build a guided one to bring them back to Konoha. He wondered if his Kuchiyose no Jutsu would work here to bring in one of his toads, particularly Pa and Ma, because of their knowledge on seals. They understand Fuinjutsu better than he did. Perhaps they could give a few pointers on how to get back.

Oh well, one way to find out!

Naruto bit his thumb and performed the necessary seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, slamming his right palm on the ground.

The seal of the summoning circle expanded below him as a cloud of smoke erupted from the ground.

"*cough* *cough* what the hell?" Said the voice covered with smoke, Naruto grinned at this, looks like his summoning worked!

"Naruto, where the hell were you! You've been missing in Konoha for days!" A familiar voice mentioned in all his gigantic glory. The smoke dissipated, and an large orange frog was standing before him.

"Ah yeah, about that… It's kind of complicated."

This was going to be a long story…

Four hours later:

"Wow, well I'll make sure to let Tsunade take note of this. I bet you're going to get killed by the woman even if you do manage to get back, so good luck with that."

"Don't make light of my problems, Kichi." Naruto deadpanned as Gamakichi merely gave off a chuckle.

"Is that all that you need me for? I'll let one of the tadpoles handle this one's it's just a simple delivery anyway." Mentioned the gigantic frog and Naruto added.

"Yeah, inform, Fukasaku-sensei that I need his advice in the seal I'm making, it seems a whole lot more complicated than I thought." Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Anything else?"

"Well, no- wait…" Naruto felt a surge of information hit his head. Naruto grinned, "How about we go for a hop around this forest and I'll show you some sights, I've got snacks!"

Gamakichi raised an eyebrow at this as Konohamaru approached them, "Hey, I'm coming with you guys!"

"Sounds like a plan." Gamakichi gave a smile as Naruto wrapped his scroll again and placed it in his pocket before he and Konohamaru jumped on the giant toad's head.

"Alright, Kichi, jump that way!" Naruto pointed south east to which the orange frog nodded with a salute.

"Aye, aye, sir!"

With that, the orange frog gave a monumental leap as Konohamaru and Naruto shouted.

"**WOOOHOO!"**

With Negi:

Negi was in a crisis, ever since he failed to defeat Chachamaru out of conscience, he had been having a hard time on how to deal with the duo (Chachamaru and Evangeline) before the night of the full moon (which was several days away) He didn't know if he could honestly do it. Evangeline was a vampire, a true blood at that. There was no way an inexperienced mage like him could ever hope to win against her!

It was then finalized, on a hasty decision, that had to get away from the school in order to stay alive, of course, that was by no means very easy, but in the matter of seconds after his decision, he had suddenly scrapped a tree and was separated from his staff therefore, making his magic useless and was now lost in a forest.

It was fortunate that he had met Nagase-san in her training or he would have been in serious trouble.

It was different spending the day with Nagase-san, she was spending it everyday foraging for food, and after that, she foraged for more food and firewood. It was taxing but all that hard work was worth it in the end.

The sun had started to set, and now that they had a good catch for dinner, Negi, looked absolutely starved.

Once they were about to start a fire, the earth felt like it shook for a couple of seconds and there appeared Naruto and Konohamaru with grins on their faces on top of a giant frog who was also grinning.

"Man that was the most fun I've had ever since after the war! I'd like to that again!" Konohamaru said, Naruto nodded in affirmation as he grinned and grabbed another scroll from his pocket.

"Here, Kichi, make sure you finish all of it, I'll have another batch once you get here again next time!" Naruto mentioned.

The giant frog nodded and smiled, he was about to go back to Myobokuzan until he heard the two speak to the red head that was near them.

"Yo, Negi! Asuna's been worried sick about you since this morning, what the hell got into your head that you wanted to run away?" Naruto mentioned, lightly hitting Negi on the forehead with a flick of his finger.

"I-I was too scared of facing Evangeline-san and while the full moon was getting closer." Negi admitted while looking ashamed at it.

Naruto blinked, as did Konohamaru, and then blinked again.

"Oh, that's it? Well let me teach you something about fighting opponents that are stronger than you." Naruto mentioned as he flexed his arm with a grin and said.

"All you have to do is be an asshole in battle, do everything it takes to win, if she's too arrogant to take you seriously, and then do something to piss her off and go for an all or nothing attack that leaves completely stoked." Naruto said as Konohamaru added,

"If you're opponent likes to take a lot of complicated plans, then be unpredictable, sometimes the biggest wrenches are the simplest tools." Konohamaru said glancing to his side to Naruto who seemed to not get it, "Eh? What are you looking at, Konohamaru?"

"Nothing!" Konohamaru quickly gave that answer before he could catch up and pout again.

"Or if your opponent is too dramatic then do an icebreaker and piss her off to the point that she can't think straight that she starts missing and mispronouncing spells." This time, it was Gamakichi who mentioned it, thoroughly educated on what was on this world.

"Negi-sensei! Dinner's ready, de gozaru!" Mentioned the voice, Konohamaru and Naruto turned around and saw Kaede who was grilling fish on an open fire. Naruto and Konohamaru's stomachs were growling.

"Ah damn it! Now how are we supposed to get back? We're hungry, I miss Chao Bao Zi's ramen already!" Naruto ranted as he grabbed another scroll from his pocket.

"Ah well, I guess we'll have to make do with rations."

"Only you could pack rations for a jutsu exercise, friggin' Boy Scout." Konohamaru grumbled. As both he and Naruto sat down with Negi in front of the bonfire with Kaede, Gamakichi had already dispelled. Much to Konohamaru's displeasure, he had to eat ramen, again.

His clones, by now, were dispersing as the clone earlier had notified Asuna as to where Negi was. He assured them that the boy was fine and that they were talking to Negi right now.

* * *

Two days later:

It was the night of the full moon, when her powers would soon be restored and when a black out was expected to happen for the next two to three hours. Evangeline was mulling over the fact that her prey had just nursed her back to health and invading her privacy last night. She cursed the little boy's tendency to have a heart sometimes, and she cursed even more about the fact that his family (especially Nagi) was the reason why she's locked up in this crummy little school in the first place! (Really? Little?)

But now, with the seal weakened by the black out and the night of the full moon was upon them, she would finally be out of this place! She would finally wreck havoc on the world once again! A smile escaped her lips as she was staring on the current Japanese teacher that was giving classes with much enthusiasm.

"Alright, class, since we're doing Kanji today, I would like to ask what your favourite word is! And since I like to choose my recitation randomly, let's start with… Eva-chan!"

After she gets her powers back, the first thing she was going to do was to impale the blonde teacher's head on a pike and to serve as a war trophy!

* * *

To be continued…

Well here's chapter three, took me a week to get this done and I'm slowly getting my writing ability back, I need more time though. So please be patient.

A few little things that I would like to discuss:

Konohamaru's skill:

This chapter explained why Konohamaru is adept at two elements, while he's predominantly good at fire and earth, he still has long ways to go to attain the title that Hiruzen has been given, which is the Professor, the god of shinobi. Konohamaru is still yet to achieve this status, as he would try to compensate for the fact that he doesn't have much power compared to someone like Naruto. It's only appropriate for Konohamaru to follow in his grandfather's footsteps (A big shoe to fill I might add). He will be a different kind of shinobi as the series progresses. Also, he has a jutsu that will fit with his last name, three guesses to what it is, the first two don't count.

Naruto's skill:

Yes, he's a Kage Level Shinobi, known as the Shinkuu Arashi, the Scarlet Tempest, the most dangerous man of this era due to the red colour of his haori and the destructive nature of all his abilities. He relies more on the practical moves like Kage Bunshin and some Rasengan variations, but that doesn't mean his base form is weak. He has two or three additional Jutsu in his arsenal that will be revealed sometime next or any future chapters. (Most likely in Kyoto Arc) a glimpse of the Jutsu concept I have was last chapter when he fought Kaede. And yes, I already have a good concept to combine sage mode and the Kyuubi's chakra, but expect only a glimpse of it in the earlier chapters. (Does anyone know Kishinken? You have your clue)

About Hiraishin:

Ah, my main plot device in this story, the main reason of Naruto's exploits in learning Fuinjutsu. Though he sucks at the sealing arts, he is by no means, a complete dunce in it. Naruto applies more on practical rather than theory (which the Yondaime most likely relied in more) as the story continues, he will further the improvement of Hiraishin from the time of its discovery, to the time he actually goes above it.


	4. Wing It!

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Four: Wing it!

* * *

There were instances that brought about curiosity to a few people. Take for instance, Kaede Nagase of section 3A, once she found out that both Naruto and Konohamaru were shinobi, she grew ever more curious at the pair, but that was a mere icing on the proverbial cake.

It turned out that Naruto was a Kage level ninja, as in a ninja that can become a head honcho of ninjas anytime. A ninja with an equally mystifying set of skills that equate to almost the mythical. She had heard legends of ninja having the ability to summon fire breathing toads.

She didn't know that it was possible though. But still, when she eavesdropped two days ago in the conversation between Naruto, Konohamaru and Negi, she was surprised to say the least, that she saw a large talking frog telling Negi to provoke his opponent.

Indeed, if someone so young could be so strong like that, imagine when he reached his prime! Aside from that, Kaede noted that those two were relatively close, almost like siblings.

"I'M GOING TO KILL THAT BASTARD!" Konohamaru raged as he walked past Kaede.

The kunoichi looked at the brunette curiously before slamming the door open and saw Naruto sleeping on his desk.

"OI! NARUTO-NII!"

Snore…

Konohamaru trembled with rage as he began shaking his master like a ragdoll.

"WAKE UP!"

Snore…

Konohamaru growled at this as he started his rant. Apparently, Naruto had accidentally (or not) spent all their remaining monthly expenses on ramen last night. Konohamaru was looking forward for a good order of spring chicken from Chao Bao Zi today and his master spent it all on instant ramen packs and green tea!

Naruto groaned at this and woke up, the blonde rubbed his eyes out of drowsiness and said to Konohamaru, "We were running out of food, stupid apprentice, at least endure it for another three days for a pay check, I heard that the principal is giving away a bonus for the school trip, aren't you happy?"

"You sonnuva… Not only did you put Ramen on the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you practically drove us broke this month!"

"Eh, the month is about to end, anyway. Be happy for it." Naruto commented in a half lidded gaze, obviously carefree about the whole thing. Konohamaru was resisting the urge to grind his teeth.

Naruto looked to his right and saw Kaede looking at their exchange between master and apprentice.

"Sup, Kaede-chan? Got any problems with the homework I gave you?"

"No, I was just curious why Konohamaru-sensei looked like he was about to go on a rampage, de gozaru."

To this, the blonde looked at his apprentice who was holding his collar and was looking at Kaede as well.

"Yeah well, Konohamaru here has a pretty bad temper if his meals aren't full of _'variety'_." Naruto said that last part with a little dash of sarcasm, one which, Konohamaru easily detected.

"Says the guy who inhales ramen every damn time!"

To this, the two began to bicker again as Naruto put his apprentice on a headlock while Konohamaru was desperately pulling away from the blonde.

Kaede chuckled. It seemed not all Kage level shinobi were filled with nobility and pride. Naruto was more down to earth than she thought he'd be.

She needed much more time to observe the two.

* * *

Hours later:

"Doesn't this school rely on a self-sufficient power source or something? I swear this campus is as big as our own village." Naruto replied; he was walking with Negi, Chamo and Konohamaru with their flashlights on, patrolling the school grounds since it was dark.

Now, normally, the dark would serve as nothing more than a much needed cover for ninjas like Naruto and Konohamaru, heck both of them were so used to the dark that flashlights weren't much of a problem. The problem was, Naruto was feeling a little bit uneasy since this afternoon. He had been looking around, trying to find something out of place while keeping it a secret between his apprentice and Negi. He wouldn't want them panicked over nothing.

Yet he can't have escaped the fact that there was something about to happen, something that would really the stage alight, something like…

Makie had appeared before them with nothing on but her birthday suit.

Konohamaru's nose instantly bled at this seeing the form of a fifteen year old girl, all for his eyes to see. To his right Naruto was looking like he was analyzing the girl but shrugged.

Naruto was a 'boobs' guy.

"Figures." Konohamaru muttered, he had known about Naruto's little fantasies when they were training, true enough, Naruto wanted Sakura to like him, but it just wasn't the case after that whole confession in Iron. Needless to say that Naruto and Sakura's relationship can be summarized with one word.

Awkward.

After that, Naruto began to expand his horizons with the female form. He had looked on in the form of the females that were the first people to say 'I love you' to him.

Hinata and his mom.

Naruto often gave a perverted grin whenever he taught about his mom. Often muttering to himself that his mom was 'Such a babe!' Naruto was stuck with a mild form of Oedipus complex, having some form of sexual attraction to his mom. Once the blonde had shown the picture of his mother, courtesy of Tsunade, Konohamaru couldn't blame him.

Of course it wasn't all bad on its earlier stages, Naruto would often turn red just thinking about it and he would give off one of his brightest smiles after that.

"Too flat for me, I'm not like Kiba who enjoys DFC's." Naruto muttered which went by unnoticed except for Konohamaru. Well, after Tsunade had him psychologically examined, it turns out Naruto was just more into women close to his age or a bit older than he was. Back when they first met the Mizukage, Naruto's would often bow and he would give thumbs up to anyone masculine around his area (particularly Kiba and Kakashi), his former classmate would often give a loud whistle after their formalities. Strangely enough, the Mizukage didn't mind it, if at all!

"Would you get into the program right now, Naruto-nii? That student is clearly out of her mind, just look at her eyes!"

Naruto answered in a most truthful but sincere way he could, "I'm having trouble looking."

That didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the female form as a whole, though.

"OH FOR FUCK SAKES!" Konohamaru shouted in exasperation.

"Negi Springfield, Evangeline A.K. Mcdowell hereby formally challenges you to a duel." Makie said as she took out a lasso in her hands, where it came from, the three had no idea and all of them decided to not think about it.

"Please go to the hot springs within ten minutes." With that, Makie jumped from the building and let that gymnast's lasso latch on to a building letting the girl go back to the said area.

"H-How is Makie-san talking about Evangeline-san like that?" Negi asked, utterly shaken from the mental image that assaulted his mind

Chamo answered for him, "She must be under Evangeline's control! It must be the vampirism taking effect!"

Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other, "Vampire? What's that?"

Both asked at the same time, Chamo looked at them utterly stumped at how these two didn't know anything about vampires! Naruto was about to ask something but let it slide, it was after all, urgent that they would stop Evangeline right now.

Negi quickly began arming himself with artefacts and potions, fully gearing himself. Both boys watched as Negi applied his cloak and rode his staff towards the springs.

Naruto and Konohamaru merely shrugged and changed into their respective uniforms.

Naruto wore his red haori over his black and orange tracksuit this time, tied his forehead protector around his head and finally finished of his set by wearing the giant scroll on his back in a horizontal fashion.

Konohamaru for his part, wore his dark green button up long sleeve shirt underneath his forest green flack jacket and his forehead protector with the blue cloth around his head.

"Dude, suiting up is such a hassle." Naruto commented to no one in particular.

"Well, Negi seems to be getting ready for a full scale battle; I think it's good to be prepared as well."

"Whatever." Naruto said as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop as Konohamaru followed suit.

They soon caught up with Negi who was running by the halls and into the baths.

As soon as they entered, they saw a hot spring that was pretty much tranquil. But the light of the full moon soon gave a few gentle shadows visible on the floor outside of the pool.

The moon's light reflected perfectly on the surface of the hot water.

"Evangeline-san!"

"Oh? It's so good for you to be here, and you brought that detestable excuse for a puny human with you… Even more perfect." Evangeline said, eyeing the oblivious blonde who was looking at her with a curious gaze before giving a devilish smirk.

"Who are you, again?" Negi asked, utterly confused at the image of the buxom woman that was sitting in front of them while five more girls were at her side, all of them looking like mindless drones. Well, four of them were more like that; the one that stood tall was just lacking emotions.

"You idiot, it's me! Evangeline!" Said the woman transforming back before transforming again, to this, the blonde to his right looked downtrodden for a second there.

Oh, her real body wasn't that impressive was it?

God how she hated that person, it seemed that whenever they were placed in the same room, he kept pushing her buttons every time, pissing her off even more. It wasn't as if it was HIS fault to be an annoying dolt that had sensitivity like a hammer, it was the fact that he WAS an annoying dolt with a sensitivity of a hammer!

"Boo!" Naruto suddenly appeared before her and surprised her so much.

"AHHH!" Evangeline exclaimed as she held her chest as if she was about to have a heart attack. Naruto reappeared to Negi's side, laughing his ass off at that.

"HAHAHAHAHA! OH WOW, I NEVER EXPECTED HER TO BE EASILY SURPRISED! HIRAISHIN ROCKS!" Naruto replied, his laughter echoing throughout the baths before it slowly died down.

"Okay, I had my fun." Naruto finished, to this, Konohamaru, Negi and Evangeline had beads of sweat at the back of their heads.

"By the way, Negi, where's Chamo?" Asked Konohamaru, Negi answered while his eyes were focused on Evangeline "He let go of me earlier, he said he wanted to call for Asuna-san. I don't want her to get involved in this."

"Wow then it's a good thing we made it here in time." Naruto mentioned, as he eyed the six girls that were slowly walking their way towards them.

"Three against six… Hmmm… Pretty tough competition. I'm assuming in order to get the others out of their mind control; we'd have to go after Eva-chan."

"THAT IS THE LAST TIME, I WILL BE HEARING THAT NICKNAME FROM YOU, PLEBIAN!" Eva hollered.

"Oh come on, Eva-chan, you know you love it!" Naruto commented, almost endearingly. Konohamaru gagged.

"SHUT UP!"

It was then that Eva eyed Chachamaru, "Chachamaru, we're dealing with this moron first."

Chachamaru complied as she jumped from the ornamental hut down to the edge of the bath where Naruto stood, who was looking at her with wonder.

"I'm sorry, sensei. I am merely complying with my master's orders."

With that the robot girl charged at the blonde, who merely sidestep a punch delivered to him very fluidly. To this the blonde grinned before ducking as a swipe of her leg missed him by a mile. The blonde then jumped seeing Chachamaru go for a low sweep kick, the girl then reeled her left arm back, intent of finishing the fight with an uppercut, only for it to barely hit his chin.

"Wow, you're pretty good with Taijutsu, Cha-chan; if it weren't for our situation right now, I'd say you were a ninja." Naruto complimented completely evading another punch before stepping on the water. He backpedalled a little more, until Chachamaru stopped near the very edge.

"Wow, I almost fooled you there." Naruto commented with a smile as Chachamaru answered. "There were energy readings I detected on the soles of your feet sensei, if I hadn't detected it in time then my fighting ability would be impeded by the water.

Naruto snapped his fingers, "Looks like I can't fool you, huh?"

"Splash apart my foe! Seventeen spirits of ice, I summon thee!"

Naruto quickly saw Eva aiming a spell at him. Naruto quickly disappeared from her vision again and flicked her with his finger at the back of her head.

Sending her to the water below…

"I win!" Naruto then gave a stupid dance atop the ornamental hut as Evangeline jumped out of the water looking obviously pissed.

"SERIUS GRAOALLIS SAGITA MAGICA (Magic Barrage: Seventeen Arrows of Ice)!" Eva roared as Naruto simply evaded the ice arrows that pierced the glass above.

Before Eva's chant:

Konohamaru and Negi were back to back with each other as the girls were stifling an almost robotic giggle as they said, "Let's take off their clothes."

Ako, Akira, Makie and Yuuna were all under the effects of the spell of the vampire, it doesn't help the fact that they were wearing maid outfits at all.

"Negi, I want to ask you one thing before I'm sexually harassed."

"Okay?"

"How come whenever you're around with girls, there's always a large chance of clothing being shredded and/or taken off?"

"I-I don't know myself, nii-san."

"Oh… Okay then, I just wanted to ask if you know."

As the girls approached them, Konohamaru grabbed Negi by the collar and tossed him up, Konohamaru followed suit and grabbed Negi before sticking to the walls above, holding both of them in place.

The girls, who were fortunately mindless drones at that moment, looked at the potion that fell from Negi's person earlier, the liquid escaped into the atmosphere as Negi shouted.

"Flans Exclamatio! (Wind Flower Disarm Weapon)"

To this, a large tearing of clothes occurred. Akira and Ako were completely naked.

Konohamaru, if it weren't for the seriousness and disgusting thought, would have kissed Negi there. That and if Jiraiya were alive, he would have already forgotten about the elemental countries.

With a hypnotizing spell, the remaining two girls, Makie and Yuuna fell asleep from Negi's words, the mage sighed in relief.

"SERIUS GRAOALLIS SAGITA MAGICA!"

Negi and Konohamaru looked down, seeing Naruto easily evade the vectors of arrows made of ice, as the glass above shattered outside.

He went outside as the Negi and Konohamaru followed suit, Chachamaru and Evangeline quickly behind their tail. As Konohamaru hanged on the staff that Negi rode on, Konohamaru saw Naruto simply jumping from building to building as he headed for the bridge. He looked like he was having the time of his life.

Naruto suddenly noticed Konohamaru and Negi flying upwards, the eldest of the trio was pouting.

"Ah, Konohamaru, Negi, you guys are flying? No fair!" The blonde pouted as he saw the duo chasing after him.

"Nius Kasusu! (Icy explosion)" Eva bellowed outstretching her hand at the roof that Naruto was about to land on.

Ice shrapnel began to spread apart and headed towards Naruto in top speed.

The shrapnel of ice embedded into multiple parts of Naruto as the blonde fell dow grimacing in pain.

"FINALLY, YOU'RE MINE! CRYSTALIZATIO TERRESTRIAS (Frozen earth)"

Spikes of ice then erupted on the ground that Naruto descended to, up above, Negi looked concerned as he was about to dive down to save the blonde, Konohamaru stopped him.

"Don't, he's not dead yet."

The pillars of ice pierced Naruto clearly as Eva gave a victorious smirk.

"HAHAHAHA! Take that! You will not overcome the undying mage that easily!"

"Master, please remember of the time limit." Chachamaru reminded her, to which the girl relented.

"I know, I know… Let's get this over with!"

"Oooh! I never knew flying was this amazing!" Said the familiar voice, Eva paled, no, no, no, no, no!

"That's impossible! I saw you get impaled earlier! How did you manage to survive that?" Eva asked in surprise

"Trade secret, Eva-chan…" Naruto replied with that mischievous grin of his. Before putting up a hand seal, the boy instantly disappeared from her view. He saw the blonde landing on top of one of the bridge's support beams.

"Stupid short distance travelling! I swear that this technique is more trouble than its worth!" The blonde ranted, landing on the road below with a simple jump.

Konohamaru and Negi soon landed in front of Naruto as the two girls landed in front of them.

"Looks like this is going to be a tough one…" Eva muttered, biting her lower lip, that blonde idiot was more troublesome than she thought the more she tried to hit him, the more agitated she becomes. She simply cannot land a single hit!

"Alright, the odds are in our favour, the time to counterattack begins now!" Konohamaru looked pumped at this as he began forming seals on his hands. Naruto looked like he was enjoying himself as Negi looked on nervously.

"Hmph… As if any of you could ever hope to match me."

Naruto raised his hand.

"Except you, but you just pissed me off and toyed with me all throughout this battle. And I still have yet to perform my most powerful spells." Eva pointed out.

Naruto grinned at that, "Of course, I wouldn't want to harm my students, is all!"

"Chachamaru, prepare for full combat mode against the two teachers guarding Negi. No more holding back." Eva commanded as her servant complied with her instruction.

"Initiating combat mode." Chachamaru replied, as the thrusters on her back began to pump out more exhaust.

Naruto could only grin at this, "Konohamaru, I think a summoning here is in order."

"Naruto-nii… What are you…"

"I want to see how long you've come far with him. I want to see if you can keep up with this battle right now." Naruto mentioned and looked at Konohamaru with a fierce gaze.

"Well? Don't just stand there, Do it!"

Konohamaru relented at this.

"FINE! If you want a battle, you've got one!" Konohamaru bit his finger and performed five hand gestures that seemed far too different from what Eva could see.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning technique)" Konohamaru shouted at the top of his lungs and a large plume of smoke covered the entire area. Eva looked concerned, that brunette earlier was a summoner?

As the smoke cleared, Konohamaru's right palm was open and outstretched forward; his knees were bent as if he was ready to leap anytime, and to his back, was a large white primate that was very muscular and wearing a tiger skin tunic. The primate was on all fours as it looked around.

"Enma-Daioh! (Great King Enma)" Konohamaru finished.

The long haired primate finally spoke, "This is the first time I've been summoned by young Sarutobi in a real life battle here… Let me see if you can uphold the name of your household."

The giant monkey then stood up quickly transformed.

Konohamaru reached towards the smoke with his left hand and out came a staff, almost twice as tall as he was; the staff was ebony in colour and white at the outer edges. The young Sarutobi twirled the staff around and above him and finally landing it on his shoulders.

"Kongo Nyoi! (Adamantine Staff)" Konohamaru finished.

"Heh, what can a stick like that do to someone like Chachamaru?" Eva haughtily asked, Konohamaru didn't even give a comeback.

Naruto was the one who answered her, "You'd be surprised."

It was then that Chachamaru began to move. Going over Konohamaru with her arms outstretched, she was about to grab the brunette, when Konohamaru jumped, he aimed his staff below to try and thrust it on her back, Chachamaru accelerated forward as the brunette hit the cement below, shattering it.

"It isn't called an adamantine staff for nothing, Eva-chan." Naruto reminded her with a smile. Eva had the urge to punch the blonde in the face.

Chachamaru was immediately going to Negi when she suddenly saw Konohamaru appearing at her side, with his staff held like a bat. Chachamaru stopped as Konohamaru gave a full swing, effectively hitting Chachamaru square in the stomach.

Chachamaru soon recovered as the brunette charged at her with a swing of his staff over his head. Chachamaru sidestepped the attack and aimed her fist at Konohamaru. She immediately fired a rocket punch at the brunette who narrowly dodged it, forcing Konohamaru to do a spin and trying to hit the robot with a horizontal strike to the torso. Chachamaru backpedalled as Konohamaru chased her.

Chachamaru then activated her thrusters at her back and flew upwards. Konohamaru jumped from one cable to another on the opposite section as Chachamaru constantly flew. Down below, Eva had silently begun her spell.

Naruto eyed Negi and said, "Is it really the time to admire my apprentice's abilities like that, Negi?"

The child teacher soon snapped out of his awe as he too began doing his incantation. Naruto soon found it too late for the child teacher to finish his.

"Sagita Magica Serius Obscuri! (Seventeen Magical Arrows of Darkness)"

Naruto grabbed Negi before he can finish chanting and used his Shunshin to flicker out of sight.

Up above Konohamaru and Chachamaru were facing on the long steel cable that connected one pole to the other. Konohamaru dashed towards Chachamaru in full speed, the adamantine staff in his hand, jumping up, he was about to smash Chachamaru who evaded the blow with her thrusters.

Konohamaru continued his pursuit as he ran upwards towards one of the support beams of the bridge as fast as he can. As he stopped at the very peak of the beam, he looked over to the flying form of Chachamaru who was heading towards him at top speed.

Konohamaru the spread his legs apart, twirling his staff around and looking like he was about to brace for impact, he aimed one end of the staff at her.

"Enma-sama! Let's do it!"

Konohamaru then gave a thrust at the girl who was clearly still out of his range.

"Nobiro, Kongo Nyoi (Extend, Adamantine Staff)!"

Chachamaru was suddenly surprised as she saw the staff grew taller and taller until it had hit her on full force pushing her into the road below.

Dow below:

"Hahahaha! Now do you see the makings of true power, Negi-sensei! This is my ability and this is only a fraction of what I truly am!" Eva replied as she began another set of spells.

Negi wasted no time with his.

"SAGITTA MAGICA SERIUS FRAGTERIUS (Magical Barrage: Seventeen arrows of Thunder)!"

Seventeen vectors of lightning scattered about from Negi's direction heading towards Evangeline. The lightning danced and crackled as Eva merely gave a smirk and unleashed the same spell she did earlier, cancelling each other out.

As soon as she heard a crash from behind her, two things had suddenly happened.

Konohamaru had landed on the ground in front of her, he was about to smash Eva with his staff, and another person had appeared from the other side of the bridge, speeding past a recovering Chachamaru and giving a straight flying kick on Eva's cheek, shattering the magical barrier she placed.

To this, as soon as Eva recovered, she saw no one except Chachamaru in front of her.

With Negi and the rest:

Negi looked around the company he was in; he was never thankful enough that Konohamaru and Naruto had appeared to aide him in this battle. This time, Asuna was there as well.

Konohamaru however, was looking ever more tired from his battle earlier on, he was panting and sweating profusely. Negi looked worried but Naruto assured him.

"Using Kongo Nyoi is taxing on the body, you don't know how hard it is synchronizing with the monkey king in maintaining that powerful staff." Naruto mentioned, Negi asked,

"But why did you want Konohamaru-nii-san to do that?"

Naruto grinned and said, "In order to grow stronger, you will need to surpass the limit placed on you. You will need to go even further of what you are right now; to become strong means to go beyond reasoning and sometimes, winging it!"

"Putting that aside, we need to finish this as soon as possible…" Konohamaru suggested, he was getting tired, he couldn't maintain this battle for long, and they had to finish it now.

"Asuna-san… What are you doing here?" Negi hesitantly asked, Asuna lightly bonked him in the head.

"You idiot, you ran off by yourself again didn't you? And if you needed help, I'll come and help you, isn't that what friends do?" Asuna asked, Negi was close to tears.

This time, Chamo had drawn a perfect circle around them. Asuna looked like she didn't mind it anymore.

Naruto and Konohamaru raised their eyebrows at this.

It was then that Asuna had grabbed Negi by the collar and pulled him close.

As soon as their lips met, the magic circle below gave out a huge light before finally disappearing, Naruto and Konohamaru looked like they were seething.

"Beaten by a ten year old with their first kiss." Naruto noted, the veins in his eyes were slowly turning red. It wasn't fair, damn it!

"Didn't you already have your first kiss?" Konohamaru asked to which Naruto scowled at.

"That kiss never existed."

Konohamaru felt like he had hit a mark on this, "Oh, so you DO admit it! I wondered why you felt like giving me a contract with Negi… I guess I know now!"

"Konohamaru, would you like me to give you training number twenty five later on tonight?" Naruto threatened with a smile, he shuddered.

"Shutting up now." Konohamaru quickly replied, to which the blonde simply grinned.

Back with Eva and Chachamaru:

"I guess he thought he can escape from me… Pity… Such a waste of a potentially powerful mage." Eva mused.

It was then that Negi, Asuna, Konohamaru and Naruto all appeared in front of them.

"It's go time!" Naruto happily reminded, Konohamaru and Asuna raised their hands above their heads with an affirmation. Negi simply nodded.

"Oi Negi, when someone pumps people up for a counter-attack, you scream with them!" Naruto reminded

"Why?"

"It's because it's hot blooded and it is AWESOME!" Naruto explained in little detail as possible. Asuna seemed to agree with the blonde.

It was then Konohamaru, and Asuna approached at the front, Naruto stood behind them and Negi at the far back, already doing a spell.

"Enma-sama! Let's do THAT jutsu!" Konohamaru said, it was do-or-die! They are going to finish this in one strike!

He tossed the pole into the air and plumes of smoke erupted all around him.

"Activate the contract for twenty seconds for the disciple of Negi Springfield, Kagurazaka Asuna!" Negi mentioned as Magic began filling Asuna and enhancing herself.

"Chachamaru, go." Evangeline simply commanded as Chachamaru quickly dashed towards the quartet, she began chanting when she saw Negi about to do a spell as well.

"Spirits of thunder, spirits of wind, gather unto me!"

Eva matched it with her own as she floated above, "Spirits of ice, spirits of darkness, gather unto me!"

"Oh Wind of the southern seas, ye who blows, clad with thunder!"

Chachamaru watched as literally dozens of the black staff appeared out of the plumes of smoke, scattering about in ever which way as Konohamaru was already gasping for breath as fatigue was slowly setting in for the brunette.

"Oh frozen clouds which light the night, ye whose blizzards are accompanied by darkness!"

Asuna had met with Chachamaru at point blank, both of them were holding each other's forearms and both flicked their foreheads, as both of them staggered back.

"YUUIS TEMPESTUS FRAGRANS (Thunder Tempest)!"

"NUUIS TEMPESTUS OBSCURANS (Blizzard of Darkness)!"

Naruto then simply used his Shunshin and grabbed Asuna by the waist before vanishing.

"Kongo Rou (Adamantine Prison)!"

The staves that were scattered around the air suddenly began forming a symmetrical set of bars before falling on Chachamaru, rendering her useless and trapped as the spells of Negi and Evangeline started clashing with each other.

Naruto had appeared at Negi's side with Asuna in his care, he gently dropped the girl as he saw Konohamaru fell to his knees due to exhaustion.

The spells of Evangeline and Negi clashed and sent trembles on the bridge, swaying softly; the water below began to form tides and ripples just from the clash of the spells. It seemed however, that Negi's spell was losing.

"I won't run away, ever again!" Negi shouted in determination as his spell quickly regained momentum and clashed once again with Eva's.

It was at that moment, that a chilly breeze had tickled Negi's nose, a result of Eva's spell no doubt, the boy felt a sudden force invade his entire body like a tidal wave of force that encompassed and swallowed him whole.

"ACHOO!"

With an immense blow of the wind, Eva was caught off guard and her clothes were shredded full force as her magic dissipated and Negi's magic hit her dead on.

Naruto just had to laugh.

"Y-You've done it now you little punk!" Eva appeared from the smoke fine but stark naked.

"As expected from someone like you… You really are his son!" Evangeline roared as he was about to float back.

Behind the cage of the adamantine prison, Chachamaru warned her with a shout, "Master, no! The power will be restored approximately seven minutes and twenty seven seconds earlier than expected!"

As soon as she heard that, the lights on the bridge soon opened, as the corridor of light bulbs had their power returned. And true enough, the effects of the seal soon kicked in. She was suddenly zapped like a fly into a trap as she fell down into the cold and deep lake below.

Chachamaru couldn't do anything, seeing as she was imprisoned with Konohamaru-sensei's technique. Negi was already running to the sides and was about to jump when Naruto had already done so.

"Please let me go, master would drown, she does not know how to swim!" She pleaded

Konohamaru gave a weary smile and said, "You should trust your sensei more, Chachamaru, Naruto-nii won't let anything happen to his students. Believe me when I say it."

Konohamaru soon dispelled the prison and the staff turned back into the monkey form of Enma.

"It looks like the will of your grandfather has been passed on to you, young Konohamaru, Hiruzen would be proud." With that, Enma dispelled himself.

Konohamaru looked on with a smile before shakily standing up and falling to the ground once more.

Down below, as Eva was about to hit the water below, she could vaguely remember when she first met the thousand master, as she was about to descend further and further into the water, an arm had grabbed her on the waist mere inches before she hit the water, she looked on at the lock of blonde hair, swaying gently into the night breeze his grin ever present.

"Safe!" Naruto shouted with an enthusiastic tone. Negi followed suit, riding on his staff.

This was one of the reasons why she hated the Japanese teacher; he was so much like Nagi.

Evangeline was speechless.

"What's the matter, Eva-chan? Fell in love with my manliness?" Naruto teased with a sly grin

"I can definitely understand why a girl would fall in love with me. I mean, I am pretty badass ninja and all." Naruto gloated with a hearty chuckle.

He was suddenly punched in the gut and lurched forward.

"Oof!"

Once Eva and the two teachers reached the bridge, Eva was given a spare cloak courtesy of Chachamaru.

"So, I guess that means the curses from our students are lifted, right?" Naruto asked, hunched over as he carried an exhausted Konohamaru on his back.

"Ah, I almost forgot, I need to cure their vampirism!" Negi suddenly remembered.

And all was well into the night.

* * *

The next day:

As everyone clamoured inside the class of 3A after Negi's class, the child teacher was soon replaced by the Japanese teacher that carried his class role on his shoulder. He looked at the students who looked like they were all giddy with excitement, well, that is except for three girls. If anyone were looking at their teacher right now, they would see question marks floating around his head.

"Why are you girls so excited right now?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Don't you know, Naruto-sensei? We're going on a school trip!" Yuuna had mentioned. Naruto had sudden flashbacks of the night before remembering that Yuuna wore a skimpy maid outfit. The blonde mentally shook his head from such thoughts for now, it was pretty inappropriate.

"Oh, that? I've been discussing it with the other teachers just the other day. Apparently, there's some turbulence along in the trip but I think it would go smoothly. Now, let's begin class and we'll go over our Kanji again like we did yesterday."

Naruto soon began his lecture and he then grabbed a textbook from his suit and began his lecture.

"Well, since Kanji is a pretty complicated writing style, I've pretty much decided to do what I did yesterday and we just barely finished it. So, since so few of you were enthusiastic on saying and writing your favourite word/words out here in front, I guess I should start."

Naruto then grabbed a chalk and wrote on the board three huge characters that covered the entire board.

"Here are my favourite words!" Naruto ended it with a huge grin, everybody looked on at their teacher with a bashful tone, not for them mind you, but for Naruto who was grinning from ear to ear, clearly unembarrassed about his choice of words.

Friendship (Shuukou)

Effort (Tansei)

Victory (Shouri)

The redheaded girl with the glasses had a bead of sweat at the back of her forehead, "Is this a manga or something?"

Her classmates could only agree that it was a set of pretty cheesy words for their sensei. But nonetheless found his antics to be amusing.

Soon, one by one came up front and started drawing strokes of their favourite words, some stuttered and some were embarrassed but overall, it was a great way to start the class.

"Sensei, I want to ask you something!" A hand was raised, Naruto curiously looked at the girl who was raising her hand; it was Asakura.

"I want to ask how you got to be so good in Japanese when you don't really look Japanese, at all! Sorry if you were offended!"

Naruto simply grinned, "Ah, its fine, Asakura. Well if you must now, I don't really know my parents since I don't have one. I'm an orphan from where I grew up. I studied under the village elder and he taught me how to read and write. It wasn't until this particular teacher happened to come by our hometown and took me in as his apprentice. I learned a lot from him and he taught me everything I knew. So you see, I'm a bit of a country bumpkin like Konohamaru."

Naruto lied through his teeth with that one, though it was mostly the truth. Most of the class looked surprised at that, and soon, everyone was quiet. The class bell rung and Naruto greeted his classmates before going out.

"As soon as he was out, the girls all looked at each other and sighed."

Indeed, Naruto-sensei was a mystery.

Later on:

"So the trip isn't cancelled, when you agreed to give a letter to this 'Kansai Magic Association' in Kyoto." Konohamaru reiterated Negi, who nodded.

"And there would be people targeting you because of the letter you posses over there." Naruto was the one to add his hands on the back of his forehead.

"Wow those are some pretty heavy stipulations for a ten year old… Sounds like fun!" The blonde commented, Konohamaru groaned in annoyance at his master and said, "Is it supposed to be fun for a ten year old to casually walk in to hostile territory?"

Naruto quickly shrugged it off, "He'll be fine. Do remember that I was pushed on a cliff in order to do one technique. I've had worse!"

"That's because you and Negi are different." Konohamaru answered.

"Yes but that doesn't mean he can't handle it. The dean wouldn't have given it to him if he couldn't handle this mission." Naruto answered. Konohamaru tried to find a flaw in that, there was none.

"Well, I guess its okay; you're there as well so I guess it'll turn out fine." Konohamaru admitted.

"Yeah, Naruto-nii-san, you're the strongest person I've ever met right now, you even toyed with Evangeline-san last night." Negi commented, obviously impressed with his abilities.

Naruto shrugged. "Ah, those were just simple jutsus and an incomplete one. I only use my more serious ones when I feel like it or my opponent is really dangerous."

"And coming from him, that's a lot." Konohamaru added.

"C-Can you teach me how to be stronger then, Naruto-nii-san? Just like how Konohamaru-nii-san is right now?"

Negi's hands outstretched, this time, the blonde noticed the card in his hands.

However, he had to answer Negi first.

"Sorry, Negi, our techniques and your spells are completely different. Your body doesn't have chakra from what we can detect. It's the reason why two girls managed to slip past our guard earlier when they took you to the hot springs, though I can teach you a thing or two about fighting."

Negi looked down, obviously disappointed that he couldn't learn what Naruto and Konohamaru had. But it was relieved when Naruto said he'd be willing to teach Konohamaru about fighting. His thoughts were stopped however, when Konohamaru asked him, "Hey Negi, what's that in your hand?"

Negi brought the card at face level. "This is the proof of the contract I made with Asuna-san!"

"Oh so not only do you have your first kiss at age ten, you also have proof that she kissed you." To this, Naruto grabbed Negi by the neck and began ruffling his hair.

"You're such a lucky dog, Negi-kuuuuuuuuunnn!" Naruto drawled out that honorific as he playfully messed with the kid's hair.

"Nii-san, stop it! You're ruining my hair!"

Konohamaru merely gave a chuckle but stopped when he saw Konoka and Asuna were heading towards them.

"Negi-kun, Konohamaru-sensei, Naruto-sensei!" Konoka waved at them, the duo (Naruto and Konohamaru) waved back.

"What are you two doing?" Asuna asked at Naruto and Negi, Naruto simply answered that it was a brotherly thing.

Asuna simply shrugged it off and Konoka quickly noticed the card in Negi's hand.

"Wow, Negi-kun, is that a tarot card?"

As Konoka quickly grabbed the card from Negi's hand and fawned over the picture, the two people from the elemental countries shrugged.

They had just received their bonuses earlier and they were supposed to be spending it on some equipment and necessities for the trip to Kyoto. Apparently, they were listed as the people who were supposed to supervise the students.

Konoe must have been pretty damn careful if they added two more combat capable staff members for the trip.

"So what will you be buying, Naruto-nii-san?" Konohamaru asked

Naruto simply shrugged, "A few casual clothes and a bag, the one I used when I got here were pretty useless."

As they began browsing through racks and racks of clothing, the covert pervert Chamo, popped up from Negi's collar and whispered something in his ear.

Naruto grabbed the little white rat's fur at the back of its neck and stared bloody murder at it.

"You little rat. If you give anymore suggestions about kissing girls for a contract, you've got another thing coming. Do you want your fur tainted pink?" Naruto threatened with a sinister grin, Chamo looked like he was about to wet himself.

Chamo shook his head vigorously.

Naruto honestly couldn't find anything that caught his interest, the same with Konohamaru, both of them weren't used to buying clothes since they were always on the go. That and the standard Konoha uniform was the only thing that was consistent in their minds.

With that, both boys decided to try again tomorrow, there weren't exactly any classes tomorrow so they thought they might have better luck tomorrow.

By the time they reached their apartments, Naruto went outside to check his summoning if ever Tsunade got the message. What he summoned was a snickering Gamakichi who gave him the scroll and just decided to go back to his home.

When the said blonde opened the contents of the said scroll, he paled and went inside as if a nauseating headache was about to take place.

The letter read:

_Naruto,_

_You have better explain to me why there is a ten meter radius crater on one of MY training fields! I don't know how, I don't know why, I just know it was your fault why this happened. Make no mistake, I was worried when you vanished along with that apprentice of yours at first, but remember this well, idiot, because you made me worry about your safety._

_When you get home, the first thing you are going to experience is my fist ramming at your face. It's bad enough that you recklessly used a time-space jutsu without pre-caution, but I don't need another set of paperwork about the civilians having paranoia of Akatsuki's return. I'll make sure an ICU is already prepared when you get back because God knows what I'm going to do to you and it involves a lot pain._

_Sincerely,_

_Tsunade_

_P.S. That seal of yours you did at the training grounds? It's gone.

* * *

_

To be continued…

Chapter four, done!

For those of you that don't know, DFC=Delicious Flat Chest

Also, Friendship, Effort and Victory is the ethos of Shounen Jump (Naruto's manga distributor). Although I don't know what the actual pronunciation is. Sorry for that, if any of you know the actual words, leave a review.


	5. Misguided Deductions

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter 5: Misguided Deductions

* * *

_Poof!_

_They had finally returned, the lush green trees, that smell of the forest, the red wall that surrounded the village, and the faces of the five leaders of their village, it was a sight to behold, a sight that brought them to their knees in happiness and a relief. A sign that…_

"_Naruto!"_

… _Brought danger upon his return._

_The blonde turned around, and saw a woman's fist colliding with his face._

"**SON OF A BITCH!**"

Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs getting from his bed in cold sweat. The blonde looked at the scroll laid out at the side of his bed and scowled. He hasn't forgotten about being sent to the hospital after that punch, damn did that old lady hit hard. Naruto grasped his left cheek as a feeling of phantom pain washed over it. That old lady hits harder than Sakura. If it weren't for the fact that he had Kyuubi, he would probably be dead.

To his side, he saw Konohamaru who was getting ready for the day to buy some clothes for the trip.

"Bad dream?" Konohamaru asked with a grin placed on his face, Naruto's scowl deepened further.

"You read the letter, didn't you?" The blonde asked, Konohamaru could only chuckle at his expense. The blonde slowly got up from his bed and went to the bathroom. That silence was all the answer he needed.

Naruto grumbled in annoyance, "Stupid old lady, she could have just said she was worried about us! She didn't have to threaten me!"

Once Naruto was done from his shower, the blonde exited the bathroom with the teacher's uniform that he wore. God, never having casual clothing was pretty damn annoying. The only thing normal about their wardrobe right now were their uniforms! It sucked!

"How much money did the bonus gave us, again?" Naruto asked. He forgot to count his money because of the letter last night.

"Around a hundred thousand yen…" Konohamaru mentioned, grabbing a small brown envelop that contained his bonus.

* * *

Shopping district, Harajuku:

Naruto and Konohamaru marvelled at just how many people were currently bustling through the streets. They looked around; it was even busier today than the last time they went here.

And like yesterday, both he and Konohamaru were looking at the department stores like fishes out of water. They simply did not know what to buy!

They exited the store again in defeat; they both gave a sigh that meant another failure. As they went about the shopping district, they saw three seemingly members of Negi's class.

All three of them were frantically looking around seemingly knowing what they were getting into.

Madoka had been exasperated at Shiina and Misa earlier, whereas she had been reminding them of what they needed to do; the two had already wandered off to buy a crepe. Out of that situation, Madoka became frustrated and bought her own crepe. But unlike the other two, she ate it out of satiating her anger over the other two.

As soon as they walked, they were suddenly surprised when they found Konohamaru and Naruto who waved at them.

"Ah, sensei, what are you guys doing here now?" Asked Misa, to which, Naruto replied, "Well, Konohamaru and I thought that we should buy some casual clothing from here, wearing our clothes from our village isn't exactly what you'd call normal around here. We don't want to stick out like a sore thumb during the trip, you know. That and we only have this for our work."

Naruto tugged the coat of his uniform.

"Well have you bought anything already, sensei?" Asked Shiina, enthused by the sudden arrival of the two. Konohamaru sheepishly replied at this, his right hand at the back of his head.

"Well, no, we kind of have a rough start right now since we don't know what the hell we should buy."

"What! That's it! We're taking the two of you around the department store!" Misa was the first to comply as she dragged both Naruto and Konohamaru towards said store.

Once they managed to enter the store, they were suddenly shoved with different sets of clothing all ranging from the casual to the more genre savvy.

Naruto remembered the last time he went shopping, it was mind numbingly horrible. Those few moments where he hanged out with Sakura and Ino were practically engraved in his head. Ino had him carry all their bags since he was the only guy around that couldn't refuse (or in this case, Ino actually bossing him around) because Shikamaru chose the clever way to deal with one of Ino's spending sprees (it was either cleverly hiding from her or telling his parents that he was on a mission, Naruto couldn't remember). After that, Naruto had to confront his friend about it, the pineapple headed chuunin told him it was just one of his intuitions back then, and Naruto had better prepare himself when the time came. Because Ino was actually happy that Naruto was a good carrier of all shopping bags because of his shadow clones.

After that, Naruto now came up with different excuses like he was about to go on a foreign dignitary mission or he had to train Konohamaru. The first one didn't work well since he knew he sucked in diplomacy, that didn't mean the others didn't know about it. The latter was more tolerable however, seeing as Ino saw Naruto actually train Konohamaru once or twice.

Now he wished that he took more time to spend with Ino on these things. That's because whenever he was with Ino at the shopping she continued to ask him if it was good, to which he had his mind pre-programmed to reply with a, "Yeah, sure, it's great."

One time he was caught not paying attention when she asked him with a trick question if he wanted to have sex. Oh boy, that brought a whole lot pain from Sakura earlier on and a whole lot of laughs coming from Ino (Not that he would have minded it, Naruto was a teenager with raging hormones after all and he was getting a bit edgy with the female population who would occasionally welcome his oblivious advances though he was still a virgin). After that, he came up with said excuses that Shikamaru was prone to _if only to avoid the pain that Sakura inflicts every time she was with Ino_.

Sexual conquests aside, Naruto did not like to shop, there were just no words to explain why he didn't want to, he just doesn't. It must be a man thing that affects both him and Konohamaru every time, there was just simply no way was a man interested in buying fashionable clothes or any other accessories that gets their attention.

After parading around in different outfits and stripping and putting on more outfits, Naruto felt like he was about to blow a gasket as his patience was wearing thin. Konohamaru on the other hand, tried to bear with it by just letting the girls choose whatever outfit that they seemed best for them. It ended with the three arguing in front of them until Naruto and Konohamaru decided to end it by purchasing the set that they wanted.

As soon as the girls had decided to buy their set of clothes (With Konohamaru and Naruto carrying at least a third of the girls' shopping bags), they went outside the department store and the blonde soon found a sigh of relief as they went out wearing the new outfits that they purchased.

Naruto wore a simple orange sleeved-black jacket on the outside over a black undershirt with a white flame design; he wore black denim pants with a leather belt and white sneakers. To complete the wardrobe, he had a white wool knitted bonnet over his head that covered his blonde spiky hair.

Konohamaru wore blue denim pants and a semi-fit black shirt with an orange flame design on the hem. He wore a pair of black sneakers and a wrist band to complete the attire.

The three girls who were with them were blushing as they stared at the two.

Konohamaru had looked over the three girls as they were whispering among themselves, "Hey girls, what are you talking about?"

To this, the girls shuddered at the sudden inquiry from the brunette as the trio were huddling at each other.

"Should we tell Konohamaru-sensei?"

"Tell what?" This time, it was Naruto who asked that was walking towards, and being the tallest of the group, he immediately noticed another set of familiar faces in the district.

"Nothing, it's not like we saw Negi-sensei dating Konoka or anything!" Misa accidentally spilled out; Konohamaru had a raised eyebrow but then decided to play to their tune for a while, "Okay?"

"Hey, isn't that Negi and Konoka? What are they doing here?" Asked Naruto, to which, Shiina immediately waved her hand sideways as if trying to convince him otherwise.

"W-what are you talking about, sensei? It's just some people that look like them!"

Misa and Madoka looked at each other and then nodded.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's those two, Negi bought that sweater yesterday when we were with Konoka and Asuna." Naruto helpfully reminded, Konohamaru then added, "Yep, it's Negi alright, what are they doing here?"

Fortunately or unfortunately for the three cheerleaders, Naruto and Konohamaru didn't know how to read the atmosphere of a dating couple, so instead of observing them from afar, the two decided to walk over to Negi and Konoka who still didn't notice the two.

"This is bad, get Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei out of there, if they find out Negi-sensei is dating a student then he's done for!" Shiina shouted.

Madoka and Misa quickly grabbed the two by the collar and hid them. Naruto and Konohamaru felt like they were choked as they were dragged back into their hiding spots seeing Negi and Konoka were still chatting.

"What the hell, what gives!" Konohamaru was the first to react, Shiina gestured her finger on her mouth and told him to keep quiet.

"P-Please don't tattle on Negi-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei, if they find out Negi-sensei is dating Konoka-san, he'll be fired from the school!" Misa pleaded.

"Date? But Negi's ten! You'd assume that they'll go out to buy some clothes since they're roommates but still!" Naruto looked unconvinced but deep inside his head; the green eyed monster was having a fit.

"B-but at look at those two, don't they look all lovey dovey like a dating couple should?" This time it was Madoka.

"Eh, sorry about that Kugimiya, but I'm still not convinced, this is Negi we're talking about, as in the boy who doesn't know what to do when someone strips in front of him." Konohamaru added, the three girls all looked at him curiously and blushed.

"O-of course in a hypothetical sense. It doesn't mean that they're going out though." Konohamaru added directly.

Bullet dodged!

"A-Anyway we should verify this to the authorities!" Misa suddenly interrupted as she grabbed her phone and about to contact someone.

"Hey wait a second, don't jump to conclusions just yet! Do you want to open a can of worms without even asking someone close to them if they ARE going out? I mean, come on!" Naruto chastised. To which, Misa decided to call another number.

From what the conversation entailed, the people around Misa deducted it was Asuna, but the girl with the pigtails simply dismissed the call and went back to sleep.

A little while later, they saw Negi talking to Konoka as they talked, Negi apologized to Konoka who said she was happy that Negi was worried about her. This got the three tailing cheerleaders to squeal.

"I'm telling you girls, you got it all wrong. Don't Negi and Konoka behave like they usually do?" Naruto tried to prove them wrong, he really did! But the more they saw the two, the harder it was to defend them; it was like HE was the one who was denying the truth! The last one, the one in the ice cream parlour, was the final straw (no pun intended).

Misa then called Asuna once again with her mobile phone and sent her another picture message. Konohamaru was the one to defend them this time, "Uh girls? Don't you think we should really try to cut down on the gossip? I mean, things can get out of hand pretty fast, and we still didn't ask the two of what is really going on."

It was then that a loud voice had suddenly screamed at Misa's phone, it was the class president, Yukihiro Ayaka.

"And we were too late." Naruto commented, Konohamaru glared at him

"THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER FROM THE STUDENT PRESIDENT OF CLASS 3-A! THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION ON IMMORAL STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS! WHATEVER YOU DO, **STOP THEM**!"

"And the gates of hell have been opened." Konohamaru was then the one to comment, Naruto then gave a sheepish smile, "Told ya."

"B-But… It's our job to support people!" Shiina replied; they really didn't want to mess with what looked like a budding relationship.

"**DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?**" Ayaka clarified, all three of them froze in fear. Naruto and Konohamaru thought they saw the face of the devil back then.

To this, the three girls frantically scattered about, leaving Konohamaru and Naruto behind.

"So… you want popcorn, Konohamaru?"

"Do I ever? This is going to be REALLY interesting!"

With that, the two shinobi faded to the background to look for a scenic rooftop to watch the mayhem that was about to occur.

"Hey, Naruto-nii, do you ever get the feeling that we're forgetting something?" Asked Konohamaru as they walked and scaled on the wall of a building, they careful not to be seen by anyone; Naruto thought for a moment and then hit his palm with his fist.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about it in the class roll. How much do you still have?"

"Roughly, near forty thousand yen, how about you?"

"Forty six thousand, you think we can buy something with five thousand yen?" Asked Naruto, Konohamaru shrugged.

"Ah well, only one way to find out! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

And a plume of smoke escaped on the rooftop of a relatively small building.

Once the clone had been given the money to look for something nice with the said budget, Naruto and Konohamaru were left to their own devices.

Watching the insanity unfold below, the blonde and his apprentice were laughing seeing as how the three cheerleaders were trying their best to ruin Konoka and Negi's 'date'.

That and they saw a huge cloud of dust coming from the distance.

"Must be that shotacon class president and Asuna. Do you think it's time to make our scene, Naruto-nii?"

Naruto only gave a wicked grin.

Negi and Konoka:

As soon as they sat to one of the benches in the park, Negi soon felt sleepy, Negi was a child after all, and he had less energy than a teenager, who has more demanding activities all around.

As soon as Negi fell asleep on Negi's lap, Konoka observed the boy.

"Just looking at your sleeping face, you really are still a child, Negi-kun!"

With a wave of her finger, she chanted rather enthusiastically, "Fatigue, fly away!"

Once, it was only for a small second, but the three cheerleaders lightly saw a faint glow on Konoka's index finger.

Konoka had suddenly remembered something, "Oh that's right, the card! It'll appear if I kiss Negi-kun!"

Out in the bushes, the three cheerleaders were already frantically discussing what to do next.

Before Konoka could continue what she was about to do, Naruto and Konohamaru casually greeted them near the statue.

"Yo, Konoka… Eh? What happened to Negi?" Naruto asked, Konohamaru leaned closer and began inspecting the boy.

"Did you two go out on a date or something?" Asked Konohamaru, to which Konoka gave a sly smile, "Did you think it was one, sensei?"

"Hahaha, nah, we're just fooling with you, but to answer your question, no." Naruto sat on Konoka's other side as did Konohamaru.

"Man, I'm pretty beat, shopping all day for some clothing and a new bag was pretty exhausting, not to mention that the cheerleading trio were pretty lively." Naruto added.

"Oh, you hang out with Kakizaki-san as well, Naruto-sensei?" Konoka asked, Naruto grinned, "Occasionally. The first time we talked to them was around a few days ago. We even went to Karaoke back then, found out, both Konohamaru and I suck at singing."

"Oi, I just don't know the songs, okay?" Konohamaru defended. The brunette then sat on Negi's side.

"The kid's sleeping pretty soundly, must have been one rough day." Konohamaru commented.

"Yeah, we were bothered by these trio, we couldn't really buy a whole lot of stuff." Konoka admitted.

"Well, speaking of which, when do you think they'll be coming, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, Konoka looked curious at that.

"Well, we saw Ayaka and Asuna around the district and were looking for you. Don't worry; we saw them even before we saw you." Naruto said with a sheepish smile.

"Actually, that might be just them right about now." Konohamaru saw two girls running towards them, one of them was blonde the other was a red head.

As soon as the duo arrived, the three cheerleaders popped from the bushes just behind Ayaka and Asuna.

The class president was pointing at Negi's position.

"K-K-Konoka-san is letting Negi-sensei sleep on his lap! I want to try that too…" Ayaka mumbled that last part which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto and Konohamaru.

'_Yeesh, this girl is a lot like Orochimaru… Except hotter, no bad thoughts, bad thoughts! STOP IT NARUTO, STOP IT! GAH! THE IMAGE IS ALREADY THERE!'_

It was both bewildering and entertaining to see the blonde turn pale and looked like his soul had been sucked out of his body. Whatever was on Naruto's mind, Konohamaru wouldn't want to know. His master was pretty messed up as it is. Then again, most of the famous shinobi from his village were pretty fucked up already.

"Ah, you guys already figured it out?" Konoka asked, smiling, knowing nothing about what was really going on in the minds of the girls present.

It was then that Negi decided to wake up from his nap when he heard the ruckus around him.

"Ah, Asuna-san… Everybody, what are you all doing here?"

Naruto wanted to say that they were spying on the boy all day, but he knew that would be bad, so instead, he kept his mouth shut.

"Well, we were supposed to let you know tomorrow, since its one day early but…"

Negi reached for his pocket and with two hands, handed over Asuna a small gift.

"For the twenty-first of April. Happy Birthday! Asuna-san, this is for you!" Negi exclaimed as Asuna looked speechless; Konohamaru then gave Asuna another one.

"This from us, we didn't know what you wanted but we kind of figured it's a thanks for hanging out with us and Negi." Said the brunette before going back with his master, the blonde boy was grinning at her.

Soon, gifts were given to Asuna, the trio quietly began to sneak away, not under Ayaka's radar they will!

"You three! You have a lot of explaining to do!" Ayaka shouted at the trio, as Naruto gave a small chuckle.

"I-It's all a big misunderstanding, Iincho-san, really! We didn't mean to!"

"You guys are always causing trouble!"

"Ah, that's right since we're already here, why don't we go to Karaoke to celebrate Asuna's birthday?" Shiina suddenly shouted.

"Don't try to change the subject!" Ayaka hollered out.

"Wait till you hear, Naruto-sensei, Iincho-san! He's surprisingly good at rapping!" Madoka suggested, this time, it was Naruto who joined the conversation,

"Hey, don't drag me into this. And no, I will not rap, I only do that when I'm with a certain friend and we do ad lib!"

"PLEEAAASSE, SENSEI?" The three cheerleaders pleaded him with puppy dog eyes. Naruto was held back and was metaphorically struck with a knife to the heart. No, Naruto, don't stare at the puppy dog eyes, those eyes are evil in sheep's clothing, they are the ones that make the hypnotic powers of the Sharingan sound less sinister, behind those eyes were the eyes that had slaughtered countless cute little kittens that just had its first month.

"Fine! Just this once!" Naruto finally relented.

Once they made to the karaoke bar, he was suddenly pushed to be the first singer.

_I hear someone's voice from far away_

_One after another the warriors get pumped up_

_On a street that only comes back_

_When will you be ready to go, are you ready?_

_The wind blows from my heart throughout my body_

_Violent energy rings, stomping_

_Resist it, raise the moon, call me_

_Forget trying to change too much story_

As soon as the song started, Naruto was forced to rap for another song. He cursed the day he and Killer B started doing face offs.

* * *

Two days later:

The school trip was today. Naruto and Konohamaru were somewhat excited about this since it was the first time they were about to go out of the campus. It didn't help that from what the headmaster told them, Kyoto was like their village. So Naruto and Konohamaru were indeed very intrigued by the whole trip. They were dressed as presentable as possible and had their bags strapped on to their backs and filled with the necessary materials for the trip. That and both of them decided to pack weaponry inside as well. They'll never know when they might need it after all!

Once they were at the train station over at the Shinkansen, they were greeted by the very enthusiastic girls of 3A.

"Sensei, over here!" One of the girls shouted, to which, the two approached. The girls gaped at Konohamaru who was now wearing a formal wear just like Naruto, minus the tie and the vest. It was the first time Konohamaru-sensei was seen wearing such since he always wore a plain white t-shirt and jogging pants.

Immediately, the girls quickly ogled over to Konohamaru who was suddenly pressed against a mob of girls that were either glomping him or simply pinching his cheek out of the sheer cuteness that they saw at the brunette, Naruto was at the back staring daggers at Konohamaru who stared as intensely back at his mentor.

That said, the few girls who didn't glomp Konohamaru right then and there were at the side watching one form of sexual harassment take place. Naruto suddenly found something amusing at the whole thing.

"Hehehe." Naruto laughed with an amused tone as he quietly entered the train to have a seat and check out the arrangements of the students on 3A, his and Konohamaru's designated section, apparently.

Konoe was surely a careful one.

As soon as Negi arrived, the girls reverted their attention from the brunette to red head that was absolutely ecstatic about the whole trip.

As soon as the students were sorted out, Naruto had to help Negi with the class group arrangements.

The first group, which consisted of the cheerleaders and the twin pranksters, entered into the cart all with ecstatic smiles.

"Naruto-sensei, it was an awesome party last night! You made a believer out of Kugimiya with your rapping skills!" Shiina had shouted to which the ebony haired girl blush a little.

"What? Naruto-sensei can rap? We want to hear, we want to hear!" Shouted the twins, Konohamaru interjected them.

"Oh, I'll let you guys hear it later, I recorded it with my cell phone last night." Konohamaru declared with a grin on his face, Naruto glared at his apprentice once again.

"Since when did you get a cell phone? And what the hell is a cell phone?" Naruto asked, to which the brunette gave a sly grin, "Hehe… Since yesterday when Sakurako suggested I buy one in order to communicate with the students better, this thing has an awesome recorder and I decided to test it out last night."

"Why you little…" Naruto restrained himself from strangling his apprentice. One of these days, he was going to pay that runt back for that particular incident.

As he walked away, a pair of suction cup arrows missed him.

Fuuka and Fumika pouted while Konohamaru had a bead of sweat at the back of his head.

Naruto was utterly immune to pranks being the prank master himself, that or it was just one of the traits of being the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi having luck of both extremes.

The second group then entered into the train cabin and Naruto instantly recognized Kaede and Chao as one of them.

The girls were carrying some meat buns along the way as they entered and consumed some. Kuu Fei gave one to Negi then to Naruto who immediately gobbled up the whole thing due to both him and Konohamaru skipping breakfast. Well it wasn't the most filling but he'll take what he can get.

The next batch was consisted of that Shotacon, Yukihiro Ayaka, the class reporter, Asakura Kazumi, and three other girls he didn't really communicate with yet, Naba Chizuru, Hasegawa Chisame and Murakami Natsumi. He inwardly cursed as he didn't even get to talk to the girl with the huge rack for a fifteen year old!

Konohamaru was by his side when he saw the scene of Negi trying to get away from the clutches of the class president who was dragging him next to her seat.

"Yukihiro, tone down on your affections a little, Negi's a bit flustered and you're creeping Naruto-nii out." Konohamaru pointed to the blonde who was facing the opposite direction. Ayaka did remind him a lot about Orochimaru, well except ho- damn it, Naruto!

Next was the group that got turned into sexy mindless drones earlier, with Makie leading up front, the only person that didn't belong in the group was Mana.

To this, he noticed that the blue haired girl looked a little pale.

"Is she okay?" Naruto asked the group pointing to Ako, who was holding on to Yuuna who had suggested buying her some water. Makie was inviting Negi to the free activity day which he couldn't even respond when Ayaka was mere inches from his back.

Next came Asuna's group that was composed Asuna, Konoka, the dark haired girl with the glasses named Saotome Haruna, Ayase Yue and the wallflower of 3A, Miyazaki Nodoka.

He could have sworn the two at the back with Miyazaki (Saotome and Ayase) were coaxing the said girl to ask Negi out. Naruto and the brunette rolled their eyes; this class was filled with Shotacons, a lot of em.

Finally, there were only two students left, this one had a single pigtail at the left of her head, and was carrying a rather large Nodachi, while the other was a very quiet girl. They were Sakurazaki Setsuna and Zazie Rainyday, respectively.

Since they were only two members of this group, Negi decided to separate them and put Setsuna on Asuna's group while Zazie on Ayaka's group.

Naruto thought that it was too bad that Chachamaru and Evangeline couldn't have joined the trip, probably because he could've had more fun with them! Well, fun for him, he just liked teasing Eva a lot. To anyone else, it was like poking a hungry tiger with a stick in one hand, and a piece of meat with the other. Naruto, in Eva's eyes, was both the stick and the meat which Naruto knew so well which was why he loved teasing the girl.

"Ah, Set-chan! We're in the same group!" Konoka exclaimed which brought Naruto out of his musings as he watched the girl suddenly turn tail and go for another seat.

"Ouch, pretty cold girl, huh, Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru remarked. Naruto had to agree.

Naruto snickered a little; Setsuna reminded him a lot about Sasuke. Cold hearted prick, that bastard better be thankful that he is alive.

Setsuna, though not noticeable by many, had a lot of pride. Something Sasuke had in spades, though unlike Sasuke, this girl seemed less dangerous, she didn't harbour any ill will towards the rest, she didn't say she was superior than the rest, she was just… Cold to anyone.

As soon as they all took their seats and Negi began orienting them, the train was soon off. Well, after Negi was hit with the lunch tray anyway.

As soon as the train trip began, Naruto leaned back and watched as the girls get on with their activities, there were some that were playing cards, while others chose to remain quiet and listen to some music or any other activity that came to mind.

Konohamaru was by the window to his left and was already fast asleep. He wanted to sleep, he really did, but he just couldn't be drowsy right now. So with that, he grabbed a small notebook from his back and began doodling, or writing up a seal.

One of the many hobbies that Fuinjutsu gave was writing, Jiraiya, who also served as a great Seals master, was a legendary writer throughout the elemental countries. It was his way of maintaining his skills as sharp as ever when it came to seals. Though in order to find a way to motivate himself, he had to resort to his desires in order to make his Sealing methods in tip top shape.

So it was actually a very ingenious way of maintaining his skill in seals. The strokes that he did in writing his novels, vastly improved his stroking skills in seals. In a way, Jiraiya was as unorthodox as he was but was damn effective at what he did.

As Naruto began writing, he quickly noticed that the girls were clamouring over at the card game. He gave a small smile as he continued with his doodling in seal designs until he had heard a croak.

At first, Naruto thought it was his summon, those toads were pretty damn intruding when they needed to be, but he had to bring them into this plane first, meaning someone may have had the summoning contract in this plane. But he thought it was impossible, the last time he checked, he was the only summoner written on the scroll. Being a sage that inherited the teachings of his predecessors, he was the only living proof of the contract between him and the mighty toads.

So why is it that these toads had made it into this dimension as well? Had someone bypassed the contract? Then they were lucky that was the case. If they had someone summon an irate toad like Gamabunta, then it would have been one awful nightmare.

Konohamaru soon was driven awake when a frog had managed jump on his mouth. The brunette choked a little and jolted upwards, the brunette was glaring at Naruto.

"Did you do this?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto gave an indignant huff and said, "No, if I did, these things wouldn't be practically moving around with me here, let's all round them up and see what's going on."

As soon as he stood up, the mop of yellow hair had obtained the attention of the frogs; they all stared at the blonde who was scowling at them.

That murderous glance was all that they needed to shudder at the thought as they all gathered to one area where the girls couldn't see.

The frogs immediately went to every corner they could find and simply disappeared.

It was then that he saw Negi dashing from their train cabin as if he was chasing something he looked around and saw the students slowly going back to their seats. He had to help one of the girls let Shizuna seat on a chair though, she was bi- er, heavy. Then he had to go around and check on Ako, who was also knocked out. Konohamaru chose to chase Negi who was racing towards the other cart.

The summoner of Enma immediately saw Setsuna standing by the end of the cart her hand above the Nodachi's hilt and with a blindingly fast swipe, the shikigami that had grabbed the letter was cut in half.

Konohamaru couldn't help but be impressed as he and Konohamaru managed to catch up with the letter in her hand.

"Wow Sakurazaki, that was pretty damn good. The cut was really clean." He complimented.

Setsuna merely nodded.

"Thank you, Konohamaru-sensei; I make it a point to brush up my skills everyday, hence, my forte."

She handed the letter to Negi and then said, "Here, sensei, you dropped this."

Negi gave a stuttered answer before going off. Konohamaru couldn't help but frown.

"Yo, Negi, you normally don't stutter as much and I've noticed that you kept your guard up when you talked to Sakurazaki back there. Mind telling me why?"

Negi gave a sigh and said, "Setsuna-san… Chamo-kun suspects her to be a spy from the Kansai Magic Association."

Konohamaru thought about this for a moment, "Hmm… Not far from the truth but not really a lie either. I can definitely put it in the realm of possibility but I don't think it's sustained enough. A real spy doesn't stand out. Setsuna holds a sword, not just any sword, a freaking Nodachi. That's a lot of attention grabbing if I ever saw one."

Konohamaru was reminded of this with Kabuto. The man was smart, cunning and was too plain to be considered a spy back then, but he obtained a lot of information, information that was vital in Konoha, including their Jinchuuriki, Naruto. To him, Setsuna wasn't spy material enough. There was something lacking with Setsuna that didn't fit her role as a spy.

"Well, I can definitely not argue with someone who's used in this profession already. But I want Naruto-aniki's opinion in this." Chamo insisted. Once they had made it back to their cabin, Negi approached Naruto who was sitting by the window now.

"Naruto-nii, I need to ask you something." Negi asked, Naruto raised his eyebrow at this. He closed his notebook on doodling and seals.

"Yeah? What is it?"

Konohamaru answered for him, "He and Chamo think Sakurazaki is a spy."

Naruto looked confused at this as he then asked, "What gave you that idea?"

Chamo explained what had happened earlier up until they had retrieved the letter.

Naruto then said to Negi to calm down.

"No, I don't think so." Naruto mentioned, he tried thinking of the experiences he had felt with spies, particularly that bastard, Kabuto. So far, Setsuna was failing his criteria.

"What makes you say that, Naruto-nii?" Negi asked.

"For one, if she was a spy, she would have needed to get close to anyone here as possible. Seeing as what she showed earlier during the roll call, she already fails at that."

Negi had to nod at that, true, it was possible.

"She turned tail and went the opposite direction from Konoka, probably the most valuable person in this bunch due to her relation with the Kanto Magic Association. So she failed at that too."

Negi nodded at that, "Finally, Setsuna fails at simply not standing out, my sensei once said that a spy is the least likely to be suspected as one. They need to be as plain as possible, as average as possible. Do you see anything average on Setsuna?"

Konohamaru was about to include a joke for that one but decided against it, now was neither the time nor the place for such things.

"I still say we remain vigilant about her, something tells me that there is something amiss around her." Chamo insisted, Naruto chuckled at this, "Just because she's from Kyoto like Konoka doesn't mean she's a spy. Who the hell would want to put their real address on official papers for the school if she was a spy _from Kyoto_? That's just stupid."

Konohamaru then sat with the three, "Well, if you want to keep your eye out on her then go ahead. Naruto-nii and I are just here to make sure you deliver the letter."

Soon enough, they had arrived in Kyoto, everyone got out of the Shinkansen and were frantically outside of the station, a bus had arrived to come and pick them up as they went to their first stop, Kiyomizu temple.

Once everyone got out, Asakura talked to an innocent bystander and told him to take a picture with the class and the additional teachers (Shizuna, Naruto, and Konohamaru)

As soon as that was over, the girls began to frantically run about the said temple, taking pictures and seeing the sights, Yue was the one to a lot of insights about the temple. Apparently, she was well versed on Buddhist traditions.

Naruto looked around amazed at the buildings; it was like looking at those temples back at their country, except they had these kinds of temples on the Capitol rather than on the village. They were terribly militaristic after all.

He looked at the students rushing off from one side of the temple to another, after hearing Yue mention the place of Otowa Falls, many of the girls were already going there. But not before seeing the two rocks that were supposed to determine their love life.

Naruto and Konohamaru watched in mild fascination as the girls struggled to walk towards the other end without as much as looking. He saw the class president and Makie fall on the trap hole with frogs jumping out of the pit.

Both Naruto and Konohamaru helped the two girls to get up all while trying to control their fits of laughter.

Negi looked on in suspicion as he looked at the pit set up below.

Negi was looking at his back and saw Setsuna looking at his way. Naruto quickly noticed this and said, "Negi, if they wanted to prevent you from giving the letter, they wouldn't have sent a spy, they would have sent an assassin!"

"Naruto-nii, that's not reassuring." Konohamaru deadpanned, Naruto didn't deny it, "No but it sure would be better if it was just a spy!"

Soon, they were already at the famous Otowa falls, the girls were already scrambling their way towards the left one when they grabbed their own ladle.

Naruto scowled at this, something about the water was off. The scent was too familiar as he, Kiba and Shikamaru had it once after the war, and it was still fresh in his mind as he saw Kiba streak from one side of the village to the other while Shikamaru kept uttering cusses. He was the only one left out, probably because of the Kyuubi, and had to witness in excruciating detail about the stuff that they had talked about, where he found out Kiba's preference in women (DFC's) and how Shikamaru would wish Ino would shut the hell up every five minutes.

"Oh crap, that's Sake!" Naruto shouted but it was already too late, most of the girls were already drunk on the ground.

After that it was hard to come up with an excuse to Shizuna who had noticed that the girls were already sprawled on the ground.

Naruto looked around, there were very few who got drunk from those falls. Including himself and Konohamaru, there were approximately only eight to ten people who were sober and had to watch over them at all times.

The stench of alcohol reeked inside the bus. But Shizuna didn't seem to notice at all, it was either that or she was ignoring it or she knew, but decided to keep it to herself. Konohamaru and Naruto then knew that someone was pulling their leg, though it didn't look like it came from the inside.

Once they got to the inn, the sober bunch had to tuck in the drunken girls for the day. Entering his room, he heard Chamo shout from ear to ear.

"It has to be that damn Setsuna's fault."

"Chamo, remember what Naruto-nii told you." Konohamaru helpfully reminded. The brunette then sat down to the side of the room and leaned on the wall. Asuna just happened to be there and Negi had to explain the incidents that had been going on as a machination of the Kansai Magic Association.

"To be fair though, I don't think that it would be Kansai's fault if they were merely using tricks to stop Negi from delivering the letter." Naruto said while rummaging through his things as he grabbed a towel.

"I have to agree, simple tricks like this would just serve as an annoyance rather than doing something stopping Negi to deliver it." Konohamaru added.

It was then that Shizuna had entered into their room and interrupted them, "Negi-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei, Naruto-sensei, the time for staff members to take a bath is almost over."

"Be right there, Shizuna-sensei!" Naruto helpfully reminded as he headed out. To this, he grabbed Negi by the collar along with his bathing materials.

Hot springs:

As the three were taking a bath, Naruto helpfully reminded them of the situation at hand.

"So we agree that we won't suspect anyone as a spy without much given proof, is that clear? I don't like doubting my students. Doubt destroys trust and a teacher must learn to trust his student." Naruto said, he looked at Konohamaru who had the lower half of his head submerged in the hot water.

The blonde simply grinned and ruffled the brunette's head.

"Remember Negi, a teacher is there to teach and to give trust to their students to make them do well in life. To put your faith in your student is a sign of a huge bond that you will share."

It was then that they had heard the sound of someone entering the room, Naruto gestured for the two to keep quiet as he edged closer to the rock, and out in the open, he saw Setsuna, stark naked.

"What am I going to do? If Negi-sensei is a mage, then I'd have to take extra-precautionary measures. Then there's Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei, for some reason, they pose more danger than they do right now."

It was then that the pangs of doubt suddenly grew with Negi, he had not been sure if Setsuna was a spy back then, but now, as he heard her speak her mind out. He was sure of it.

Setsuna was a danger to them.

To be continued…

* * *

Chapter Five is done! Read and review people, and thanks for the feedback!


	6. Trouble in Paradise part 1

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter six: Trouble at Paradise part 1

* * *

For the life of him right now, Naruto felt like the universe was just a spiteful entity that liked to prove him wrong. Every damn time he tried to prove a point, one thing was leading to another before he could say, "I'm the greatest!"

He didn't know if the universe hated him or just wanted to make his life miserable for kicks. Hell, right now, he felt like a total jackass about doubting that perverted ermine's suggestions that Setsuna was definitely a spy. If only that girl didn't have to speak her mind out in the open like that! Though from what he could think of, Setsuna is a far cry from spies that he had come to know. It just didn't make any sense! For Setsuna to actually know of Negi's status as a mage, when it was obvious that he didn't even tell the swordswoman, would mean that Setsuna had inside information. The questions were how did she obtain it and who provided her? Naruto could only think of three people who could provide her with such, the dean, Takahata, and Asuna. He would rule Konoe out; the old man wasn't a blabbermouth and would have preferred to have the status of their school be kept further. Takahata was usually nowhere to be found and was rarely going to class 3A. Asuna was a possible suspect but she would mean it to keep Negi's secret. She maybe hot tempered, but Asuna was loyal to a friend.

To his side, the blonde saw Konohamaru holding Negi's mouth as he frowned, it seemed like the brunette wanted to hear what Setsuna had to say as well. However, Negi's frantic flailing brought Setsuna's attention to them whose train of thought was suddenly cut off.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Setsuna demanded, quickly grabbing the Nodachi from her side.

Unsheathing the long and thin blade, she dashed towards the rock that Naruto, Negi and Konohamaru were hiding behind.

"Shinmeiryuu Ougi: Zanganken (God's Cry Style Secret Technique: Rock Splitting Sword)!"

Infusing her blade with her Ki, Konoka slashed the large stone cleanly in half. In one clean stroke, the rock slid to the hot waters below. She remained ever vigilant as she saw no one appeared behind the rock.

"That was close, Setsuna-chan. What if you managed to hit someone with that sword?" Asked the voice from behind Setsuna; she turned around to slash at the person who had managed to get close to her under her guard. With a horizontal swipe, she turned around and slashed at her faceless enemy who easily stopped her attack by touching the hilt.

The sword's momentum immediately halted and her foe quickly gave a chop to her arm that made her flinch and lose the blade. But not before the girl countered with her free hand going below the man's waist intent on yanking it off.

Naruto instantly jumped back.

"FOUL! GODDAMN IT!" Naruto retreated as he grasped his private parts in quick defence. No one ever touched him there! Not even the nurses in the hospital did! Good thing that white towel kept most of his modesty once he jumped back to one of the rocks as he stood tall. But the lingering touch would still be there.

"N-Naruto-sensei?" Setsuna suddenly stuttered, the blonde affirmed her, "Yeah, me, 'Naruto-sensei'. Just what the freaking hell is your fighting style that involves snapping off dicks? No wait; forget I even asked that question. I wouldn't want to know."

The blonde paled at this as he thought of other male students learning that style. The blonde retched and felt his dinner about to eject from his mouth.

"I knew it! I knew we couldn't trust you, just from earlier, you finally showed your true colours! You're a spy from the Kansai division aren't you?" Chamo popped up from the side who was accusing the girl like a prosecuting attorney.

Konohamaru appeared from the side as he positioned his hands for a seal. He was aiming at Chachamaru but he soon found out that he still hasn't recovered from his chakra drain. He fell down on his knees as he struggled to get up. He couldn't do any taxing elemental jutsu for the moment, but at least he can perform a few Katon, elements.

"Setsuna-san, even after what Naruto-sensei did to remove my doubts about it… You were still a spy, I can't believe you!" Negi looked like he was on the verge of tears.

"What? That's not true! I'm an ally!" Setsuna vehemently denied it.

"Does snapping off someone's penis be considered an ally? You were ready to do the deed!" Naruto told her, he was holding his equipment rather protectively.

"Well you surprised me! I had to be on guard! This is Kyoto after all, the headquarters of the Kansai Magic association!" She stated.

"How do you know about magic? How did you know Negi was a mage?" Konohamaru inquired, it seemed like the brunette was edging closer and closer to Chamo's idea that Setsuna was indeed a spy. The swordswoman replied, "I was informed by…"

She was suddenly cut off when she heard a scream outside.

"Was that Konoka-ojou-sama?" Setsuna knew from the voice that it resembled a lot like Konoka's. She quickly grabbed her Nodachi that was on the side and dashed out of the outdoor spring.

"Ojou-sama?" Negi asked; Konohamaru was the one who answered for him.

"It's an honorific to prefer to a lady of higher status. Only those who serve her or under her can call her that."

Naruto easily calmed down at this. Well at least they somewhat know that Setsuna was on their side. To him, she looked none other than a vassal or a retainer. He had met people like them during his missions. The most memorable were when he was younger during that trip in Snow Country and at least two years ago when he was in Ogre Country.

"Ojou-sama!"

Well, they had a student they might look out to, so they might as well go after her.

With a dash, Naruto carried Konohamaru and Negi with his arms and landed in front of the door to the changing rooms just behind Setsuna.

The blonde set them down on the floor as Setsuna opened the sliding door.

What the three saw made them blush (Negi did, the other two were worse off since they had blood trickling down their noses and looked like they were hypnotized.)

They saw monkeys stripping off Konoka and Asuna, taking down their underwear and raising it above their heads.

"What the hell is with these perverted monkeys?" Asuna said as she struggled from the group of swarming primates trying to strip her of her underwear.

"Ah! Negi-sensei, Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei, don't look!" Konoka pleaded, as the trio couldn't help themselves. They couldn't take their eyes of it.

"Foul knaves! How dare you strip Konoka-Ojou-sama like that! You will pay!" Setsuna threatened as she looked like she was about to be caught on fire as she held her Nodachi upwards and glistened in the moonlight. Negi had tried to stop her seeing as he didn't want to harm the monkeys. Setsuna mentioned that they were merely Shikigami, animated pieces of paper that came to life.

When Negi tried to stop said girl, Setsuna lost her balance and was suddenly bumped into a dumbfounded Naruto who wasn't ready for what happened. The effects of Gravity were instantaneous as both Naruto and Setsuna fell down. Naruto was on his back, seemingly snapping him out of his funk. He grimaced and opened his eyes, only to see something up close that he really shouldn't. It only gushed forth more blood to his nostrils effectively making him feel lightheaded. Naruto was getting dizzy _'I don't know how much more I can take! Please let her realize it fast before I lose myself! Though, I should at least enjoy myself for a few seconds more, hehehe. Note to self, by a roll of toilet paper later.'_

Somewhere in the afterlife, Jiraiya was giving of a stupid dance on how his student got to see some poon so up close.

Konohamaru didn't know what was happening anymore. First the monkeys were stripping off Asuna and Konoka, then Negi tried to stop Setsuna from hurting the animated pieces of paper, finally, Setsuna was straddling Naruto-nii's face. He suddenly felt a pang of jealousy to Naruto's situation.

Setsuna scrambled to run upwards, obviously embarrassed from the situation herself. Naruto got up rubbing his back due to the fall, as Setsuna charged at the primates with her sword drawn to a thrust when she saw Konoka about to be taken away.

"Shinmeiryuu Hiken: Hyakka Ryoran (God's Cry Style Secret Sword Technique: Chaos of a hundred Flowers)!"

In a flash, the monkeys were instantly shredded to tiny little pieces and turned back into torn paper dolls.

The sudden and quick movement from the trees did not escape Naruto and Konohamaru's ears.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto exclaimed as he jumped towards the fences and skipped over it with nothing but a towel on. Konohamaru following suit carrying his and Naruto's clothing.

"Hey, wait, Naruto-nii! Wear some clothes first!"

They didn't get far however, as both had lost sight of the mage. The fact that they couldn't detect chakra here was annoying as hell.

Once they got back, they heard Konoka telling the other what happened between her and Setsuna. She sounded very sad at that. Both Naruto and Konohamaru were silent as they exited the baths. They merely looked up upon the crescent moon.

"You know Konohamaru, now I feel bad for trying to accuse Setsuna like that. I mean sure, she said those things suspiciously; the fact that she knew Negi was a mage is disturbing. But now I can see why she knows." Naruto answered, only the sound of the crickets chirped on in the night.

"Moreover, do you think those interferences were mere distractions to capture Konoe, Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru asked, as they both got out of the baths and wore their Yukata. Naruto had his sleeves rolled up and exposed his chest out while Konohamaru had his sleeves down.

"It's a possibility. But it could also serve as way to intercept Negi whenever he isn't guarded by someone. It was fortunate enough that Setsuna was there or it would have been much more than just a harmless prank." Naruto inquired. To this, he put his hands up towards his favourite seal and said the techniques name.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Three clones then popped into existence as Naruto handed them several fuudas in hand.

"Set these explosives outside the hotel perimeter, guys, preferably in the trees. These are motion sensitive explosive notes that I've designed a few months back. It should do the job but be careful in setting them up." Naruto inquired. The three clones nodded and vanished from their sight.

"What would you have me do, Naruto-nii?" The brunette asked. Naruto didn't even look at him.

"Take your time to rest. I saw you flinch earlier; it means you're still not one hundred percent combat ready. The fact that you could still use chakra is a reminder of the training Enma gave you. But you aren't like me so ease up. Because I get the feeling we'll be going in for a fight for the next five days, get your gear ready when I say it. I'll be summoning a frog tomorrow to request for supplies in the village."

As they rounded up to a corner, they saw Kaede talking with Negi who then left the child to go look for Setsuna. Kaede then talked to him.

"I noticed that there was some trouble earlier, de gozaru. If you feel the need for help, just ask." Kaede offered, Naruto grinned at that and said, "I'll take you up on that offer, Kaede-chan."

As soon as Kaede entered her room, they went over and saw Negi talking with Setsuna who was explaining to them about the history of the Shinmeiryuu School and their purpose in the city.

"It sounds a lot like the ANBU for us." Konohamaru mentioned as he and Naruto decided to cut in.

"ANBU?" Negi asked to which Naruto gave a smirk and added for the red head, "Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai (Special Assassination and Tactical Squad), those guys that wear the porcelain masks to hide their identities when conducting missions."

"A-Assassination?" Asuna asked rather terrified at that.

"Yes, it's a special force under the direct orders of our leader, the Hokage. They are responsible for carrying out highly dangerous missions and intercepting powerful threats to our village. My sensei was a member of the ANBU once; he told me that they are the secret police that go around well, secretly. Although unlike where Setsuna-chan came from, the ANBU have a code to uphold that their identities be remained secret."

"That's… Quite…" Asuna tried to find words to describe the way Naruto and Konohamaru lived in.

"Scary, right?" Konohamaru asked rhetorically and then added, "It's true. Naruto-nii and I lived there and we saw how ANBU often act."

"That aside, we've set up traps around the hotel area, about five hundred meters worth of traps, the only way for those guys to make their way here would be to the front door. Let's see if they are ballsy enough to get past the traps I set up earlier." Naruto grinned at that, Negi was the one to ask.

"What kind of traps are set up around here, nii-san?"

Naruto answered with a simple smile, "Why explosives of course! Not just any explosives, its _motion_ sensitive ones. It activates when it senses enough pressure around it! So if a monkey or a squirrel happens to step on it, it wouldn't set off. However if a human does so, then they go BOOM!"

Everyone around him had a bead of sweat at the back of their heads at this.

As soon as Negi was fired up at this, he suggested he goes out for patrol, Naruto tried to stop him seeing as it was really an unnecessary to guard outside. Negi suddenly bumped with one of the staff members of the hotel who was pushing a cart full of laundry clothes. Negi apologized immediately before running outside.

Naruto shrugged and told Konohamaru to go back to his room. Setsuna had asked why send someone like Konohamaru to rest and the blonde mentioned to her why.

As soon as he was gone out, patrolling the upper corridors, he looked up at the crescent moon once again in silence before grabbing his notebook from his yukata to begin another set of doodles and seals. What he grabbed was another set of fuuda seals.

He looked at it rather closely and paled at it.

"Well that's not good." Naruto mentioned as he had apparently placed _incendiary_ explosive notes and not the ones that would trigger enough force to blow the enemy back.

He suddenly heard a loud explosion from one part of the forest as fire literally spread around the place. A bead of sweat escaped from the back of his head.

"Oops?"

Someone had obviously walked into his trap.

He chuckled as he jumped from his window and landed on the ground below crouching before dashing towards the place.

As he reached the place, he saw someone who was supposedly wearing a monkey costume that was now in tatters and charred. In her arms was Konoka who was miraculously unharmed.

The woman was gasping for air. Some reckless idiot just set up a landmine in this place! What if they accidentally killed the girl in her arms? Don't they know anything about holding back?

"Yoink!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed Konoka from the woman's arms and disappeared from her view so suddenly.

"Pretty stupid move you did there, nee-chan. I've put the whole place except the front, with explosive notes. So for five hundred meters around this inn, you're walking up in a fire storm." Naruto said without as much as amusement in his voice.

By this time, Negi, Konoka and Asuna had managed to caught up to Naruto and Konoka who had been facing the girl's kidnapper.

Chigusa cursed her luck. But she knew she had to make her escape now if she wanted to make her plans work. She removed the monkey suit and grabbed one of the fuuda from her pockets and began chanting.

"Charm-san, charm-san, please facilitate my escape!"

The fuuda glowed with an ephemeral light before gushing out a huge torrent of water towards Naruto and crew, dousing the flames that had burned the trees around it. Naruto raised his eyebrow at this. Did she really think that this water would be enough to stagger him? With a simple jump, he evaded the huge gush of water. He landed on the ground with Konoka still in his arms. As two gigantic, ridiculously looking monkeys had appeared to his side, intent on taking him down.

"Those guardians would be enough for you!" The woman shouted. Naruto looked at her for a second with contempt and soon realized it.

Without as much as a flicker, he vanished yet again from the sight of everyone around him leaving only a gust of wind from where he was standing.

"H-How is Naruto-sensei so fast?" Setsuna asked, to this, it was Negi who answered.

"Naruto-nii-san has an ability to bend the time-space folds. I don't know the specifics, but he can teleport in short distances or so he says."

Naruto was then between the three of them as he held Konoka in his arms. He gave the girl to Setsuna who blushed but accepted the unconscious girl in his arms.

"Asuna, you're going to back me up. Negi, go do your spells. This woman is underestimating me and its pissing me off." Naruto mentioned without as much as a tone of malice in his voice. But the others could feel it there. It was then that they felt the air around him suddenly started blowing in every which way. Negi had never witnessed Naruto angry, but the fact he rarely saw Naruto this angry brought chills down his spine.

"I don't like it when people tend to underestimate me so much. It's been a while since people used low level techniques thinking that they could take me down with such things. It's an insult to my skills as a ninja!"

The wind began to rustle and pick up as Naruto held a seal close to his face, his Yukata rustled in as the winds picked up with a tremendous amount of force.

"Negi, watch me and witness on to why my enemies called me as the most dangerous man alive in my world!" Naruto commanded as Negi did just as that. He quickly flicked his hand for a card with Asuna's picture on it and began his spell.

"Activate the contract for twenty seconds for the disciple of Negi Springfield, Asuna Kagurazaka."

"Fuuton: Fuujin no Jingi (Wind release: Sacred Treasure of the Wind God)!" Naruto yelled as his body began surrounded by streams of wind, his hair was dancing upwards as the updraft created by the wind was forcing his yukata up.

With a single step forward, the ground beneath his feat instantly caved in, before vanishing in a blur.

Asuna could barely follow the movements made by the blonde as she dashed towards the other one; Negi had told her he'll give her an artefact as a weapon. She expected a sword or something of the sort, she never expected a giant Harisen.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Asuna asked at Negi who could only wonder about it. He looked at the card then back to Asuna again and again. It didn't make sense why Asuna would hold a Harisen instead of the sword.

Screw it, if it's meant to be a weapon then screw it! She'll use it and see what happens! With a swipe of the giant fan on the Shikigami's forehead, its shape began to lose substance and soon vanished from this realm, leaving behind a paper doll that swayed in midair before falling on the ground. Asuna was very much surprised at what she did, as she looked at the woman with a smirk and then dashed at her. She was about to smack her with the Harisen when someone had appeared from the battlefield once again. This time, the girl had gothic attire while carrying a daisho sword pair, a standard size Katana and a Wakizashi. The girl intercepted her which forced Asuna back with a powerful push sending her to where Konoka and Setsuna were.

Setsuna's face turned to a scowl, based from what she saw when she intercepted Asuna, she was sure of it, the girl that held the sword pair, was a student of the Shinmeiryuu. Setsuna stood up and gave the unconscious Konoka towards Asuna.

"Asuna-san, please protect Konoka-ojou-sama. I will deal with her myself." Setsuna said with a serious tone as she grabbed her Nodachi and held it sideways in front of her shoulder as the strong gust of Naruto's technique swayed her hair and the hem of her yukata. The light of the moon bathed the steel colour of her blade under its light. Its ephemeral beauty showed forth its fangs towards her foe.

"A student of the Shinmeiryuu… Am I correct to assume?" Asked Setsuna, the girl in front of her merely gave a smile.

"Yes, I am a student of the Shinmeiryuu, my name is Tsukuyomi and I have been hired as the bodyguard to protect this client. Please don't think ill of me, sempai." She said with a smile, one that brought a scowl on Setsuna's face.

She let one foot step back as she prepared for a thrusting stance of the Shinmeiryuu School. Setsuna looked absolutely focused as her enemy stood at her front with a smile.

"It's a duel!" Setsuna said as she dashed at her opponent, clashing blades against her fellow practitioner.

Naruto had appeared above the summoned Shikigami, his fist already reeled back as he struck the monkey like creature, whatever, straight at the top of its head. The said monster fell down on the ground, bouncing as it hit the earth in a shattering force before Naruto smashed his left fist to the creature's face, caving it in. Naruto then delivered a side kick to the creature's side, swaying it from side to side before the blonde grabbed its body delivering a vicious headbutt that staggered it back. Naruto then, in a powerful streak of wind, dashed towards the creature that sent leaves flying all around him as the branches swayed from the sheer force that the gale of Naruto's jutsu left. Negi watched in awe as he saw the blonde move like a tumultuous storm in the night when it kicked the said creature at its chin sending it upward and causing an updraft powerful enough that it felt like a hurricane was in their midst. The blonde stood back up, and looked upwards.

Naruto stared at it with a frown and put his hands together in a seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)"

"Oi, lady, let me tell you something about underestimating your opponent." Naruto mentioned flatly without as much as a rise from its tone. The woman looked like she was curious as to how this man would talk during a fight. Three clones then appeared in mid air surrounding her Shikigami with from all sides.

Naruto's hand glowed with an incandescent blue light as he gathered chakra with it. A blue spherical shape made of pure energy began to form as wisps of energy began to spin around that looked like a storm inside was brewing to cause enough force that the small area around him began rustling even further. Setsuna, Negi and Asuna could only stare in awe as the immense power that it shot out was felt around them. True, it wasn't magic but even if it wasn't, the orb made of blue chakra was still powerful enough to be felt by anyone.

"This is battlefield tactics one-o-one! Underestimating your opponent is the biggest crime in a fight! You think you can make me bend down with simple tricks like these? Get real!" Naruto shouted as one of his clones grappled the Shikigami at its feet while another grappled its feet that was met with another, the last clone began spinning in mid air like a top, the two clone links hanged on as their centrifugal force began to increase, spinning like a mad top in mid air.

"Undecim Spiritum Aerialis Vinculum Factei Inimicum Caputent (O eleven spirits of the wind become my bonds and capture mine enemy!)" Negi had recited; his staff held sideways as eleven luminescent green lights began collecting around him, with a shout, he aimed towards the tall woman.

"Sagitta Magica Aer Captorae (Magical Barrage, Windy arrows of binding)!" Negi shouted as the eleven streaks of wind shot forth and aimed themselves towards the woman. The woman jumped back, evading the binding arrows as she suddenly noticed that Naruto was not within her sights.

The Shikigami was suddenly thrown downwards, heading towards the bespectacled woman at incredible speeds. Naruto had appeared before it in a blink of an eye, with Rasengan in hand, time seemed to slow down between them, as Naruto suddenly saw Tsukuyomi intent to strike him down. Naruto shifted his whole body out of the way of the sword's blow, changing the course of his attack. With that precious second, the bespectacled woman had managed to get out of the way, as her Shikigami was the one to take the hit of the full brunt of his Rasengan.

The tumultuous force of his technique picked up dust everywhere around him, as the storm like object in his hand grew unstable with the disturbance of its shell. The wild forces inside grew incredible forcing itself out of Naruto's hand and began spinning all around him. The ground beneath him collapsed as the Rasengan's power pushed the Shikigami away as the ground beneath the push began to entrench itself. The paper that came to light dispelled itself in a cloud of smoke as the paper itself was shredded beyond repair.

Naruto looked at the girl with the loli attire and the glasses before he scowled. Great, more annoyances are coming out of the woodwork on this trip.

"You're pretty damn confident if you face me with those butter knives and not anything else." Naruto stated, more annoyed than angry. Well, he didn't intend to kill the woman earlier; he was aiming for her leg to cripple her, if he had meant to kill her, he would have done it in another way.

Tsukuyomi merely smiled and said, "I am very surprised that someone like you was able to evade my attack in a fraction of a second."

"What about someone like me?" Naruto asked, somewhat insulted.

"Nothing, perhaps we shall meet again, some other time." With that, both she and the older woman ran away from the scene. Naruto had no intention of chasing them, mostly because he couldn't leave Negi and Konoka alone, the apparent targets.

Setsuna was about to chase them but Naruto stopped her. "We need to get Konoka to safety for now, who knows how many more reinforcements that sicko has."

With that, they soon left the scene, with nothing more than the charred and destroyed earth as witnesses to that fight. Setsuna looked over at the blonde who looked like he was still on guard around the place.

She couldn't help but feel awed at the strength that Naruto possessed. It was like watching an unbelievable force of nature striking her enemy. He was so wild yet so tamed at the same time. It was like he was the wind incarnate, that ability he showed earlier was proof of that.

Naruto looked at her, who was examining him ever since their trek back, curiously, he asked her, "Something on your mind, Setsuna-chan?"

Setsuna snapped out of her thoughts and vigorously shook her head.

"Nothing, Naruto-sensei, just thinking about how strong you were back there, I have known the ranking of the ninja system ever since Nagase-san explained it to me, I have to ask, what level do you belong to, right now?" Setsuna asked, Naruto gave a simple grin and said, "I belong to a different kind of Ninja system, Setsuna-chan, but I guess if I have to put it in terms that Kaede-chan used, then I'll have to say I'm already at Kage level."

"B-But you're only barely older than us! It takes years of hard work to attain such a rank!" Setsuna exclaimed, Naruto gave a melancholic smile and said, "Setsuna-chan, when you grow up in an environment like mine, there is no choice but to grow strong. What made me today was the result of countless trials and experiences that I don't wish on _anyone._ Not even on my own apprentice, especially since I've already died once."

Setsuna looked at him in a confused manner as Naruto stared up once again on the crescent moon that night as he remembered that final encounter with Madara.

'_You were meant to be the sacrifice for the sake of this world. I am that one who shall bring forth a new age in humanity, while you shall lay down your life for me. As I stand on this very pillar with the dawn of the new age appearing before me, and you lay there, let me ask you this, how does it feel knowing that the sacrifice that your parents has given is wasted so pitifully in front me? How does it feel like, so close to dying, that you can still hear my voice and breath in the same presence as that of a god? How does it feel that after all these years the one that first threatened to kill you will be the same person that will kill you now? Have you come to your senses that it was inevitable fate that lead to my godhood, my immortality? You were never meant to save this world. __**I was.**__ The will of the sage of six paths lives through ME and not you. Now witness and tremble and watch as the god of this new world shapes destiny with his OWN power!'_

Naruto's hands were balled into fists. As they walked closer and closer to the hotel, it was fortunate that he had his sleeves rolled down right now since it was getting colder, it hid his hands from everyone.

Konoka silently stirred as she was being carried by Setsuna.

"Set-chan?" She asked looking at the face of her childhood friend.

"I had a weird dream, I dreamt I was kidnapped by monkeys and then you, Negi-kun, Asuna and Naruto-sensei came and saved me." Konoka said with a smile. Setsuna couldn't help but smile.

"It's alright now, Ojou-sama. You're safe now."

Konoka gave a smile at this, "Thank goodness… I thought… I thought Set-chan really hated me now."

A few strand of tears escaped her eyes for a moment before smiling again. Taken aback at this, Setsuna soon realized the consequence of her actions and gave Konoka to Naruto before apologizing.

"I-I'm sorry, I almost failed you as your guardian." She stated before going away. Asuna was the one to reply to this, "Hey, Setsuna, we'll be looking forward to see you in Nara tomorrow!"

Setsuna didn't reply as she hastened her walk towards her own room.

Naruto chuckled and said, "Don't worry, she's just shy, I'll talk to her when we have time. Also, Negi, come over here."

Naruto mentioned as his hand made a gesture of a 'come hither' towards Negi. The boy quickly approached the older boy and Naruto poked his forehead with a playful grin.

"Little kids shouldn't stay up late. You're a growing boy, you know." With that, he grabbed Negi by the waist and waved a goodbye at Konoka and Asuna.

"Sorry girls, it's time for sleep, we'll meet you all tomorrow morning." With that he waved goodbye towards Asuna and Konoka with a grin. Konoka looked thoughtful for a moment before saying.

"Asuna-chan, was I dreaming back then or did I see Naruto-sensei look like he split into four replicas of him?"

Asuna cursed her luck as she had to be the one giving the excuse this time.

* * *

The next day:

Naruto and Konohamaru groggily woke up from the night before, still in their respective Yukatas. Negi was already wearing a suit and was speaking with the class wallflower, Miyazaki Nodoka with a half awake frown.

"Ah, Nodoka-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked, still groggy, Konohamaru was already in the restroom changing.

"I-I was… Inviting over one of the teachers to come with us during our whole stay in Nara…" She looked like she was relieved and troubled at the same time, until Naruto spoke.

"Nope sorry, Konohamaru and I are assigned to different groups right now. I think he'll be with the twins and the cheerleaders while I'll be with the class president and her group (to this he shuddered). Though I think Negi is available right now." He said with a sly smirk. Although half awake, he was aware of the fact that Nodoka had a thing for Negi. Eh, he didn't need to be bothered with that anymore. He was pretty sure that most of the members of this class were shotacons and was now ready to admit that they were pretty much crushing on Negi.

Oh Naruto, you poor defenceless fool.

Konohamaru walked out of the bathroom wearing his casual attire of the black semi-fit t-shirt and wool wristband who looked like he was now fully refreshed.

"Ah, Miyazaki, what are you doing here?" He asked, seeing Nodoka for the first time.

Naruto had explained to him though once he got to the bathroom. Once Nodoka was gone, Naruto came out with _his _casual outfit. He grabbed the wool bonnet as the three headed out. To this, he looked at Negi, "Negi, why are you wearing a suit? This is a class trip, you know. Uniform isn't terribly required for the teachers."

When they got down for breakfast, Naruto and Konohamaru were greeted with a lot of their class already sitting and having their meals.

Naruto looked at his own breakfast.

An omelette, a bowl of rice, hot miso soup and dried fish…

To him, that wasn't enough, he needed something more filling, to his right, Konohamaru was thinking of the same thing. They both sighed and simply began to dig in, the breakfast was rationed after all, the budget set for the trip was already a given so they couldn't complain.

They watched in mild entertainment as the girls began inviting Negi towards their group. Naruto merely raised his hand when Ayaka was inviting Negi.

"Sorry, Iincho, I'll be in your care today." Said the blonde; chopsticks were still present in his mouth.

Ayaka looked like she turned to stone and crumbled, already looking like she was in despair.

Naruto shrugged at this, hey, what could he do, he was assigned there. If he could, he would've stuck around with the cheerleaders instead, hell, he'll hang out with Mana and Ako if it meant getting the hell away from Ayaka that reminded him too much of Orochimaru, except ho- DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!

Naruto felt like loosing his breakfast at that image and soon placed the bowl down and downed the whole bowl of Miso Soup.

Once he was done with that, he grabbed a fresh glass of water and down it all in one gulp.

Konohamaru merely shrugged and went over to the five he was assigned with, "Sup girls, looks like I'll be spending time with you."

Konohamaru didn't know why he was suddenly scared, but when she saw the gleam that the twins were giving him, he knew he was in for trouble.

As soon as the bus arrived and the class had boarded the vehicle, Naruto had to withstand the gloomy atmosphere he had been feeling from Ayaka.

"H-hey, it's not THAT bad, I'm pretty sure that there are still a lot of chances. S-So just cheer up!" Naruto put on a happy face but found it hard to. Naruto's smile soon grew to a scowl.

"SMILE, DAMN IT!" Naruto shouted, to which the whole class gave him a weird look.

"I-I mean, we got a rotation! So I guess you'll be having Negi by tomorrow or by the day after that! Ah, damn it! I suck at this!"

Naruto looked like he got infected with Ayaka's depression as the gloomy atmosphere grew with the two of them.

As the bus stopped over at Nara, one by one, the students and teachers stepped out of the bus. And the quintet, with Naruto, was pretty much looking around. Ayaka was still looking like her puppy died. Naruto was trying to cheer her up even if she did creep him out from time to time.

Naruto however stopped when Ayaka said to her, "What do you know, sensei, you never had a family to begin with. I wanted to have a baby brother, but he died before he could come out of mother."

Naruto stopped at that and had to let Ayaka walk in front of him. The others looked at Naruto who stopped smiling for the first time. He looked on with a frown and before looking crestfallen. Without as much as a word, the blonde continued to walk with them when he said with a melancholic smile, "You're right… I never actually had a real family so I don't know how I should feel about your situation. I'm sorry."

Asakura Kazumi stopped for a moment before she saw the blonde put his hands in the pocket of his jacket and began to silently walk as if something he had tried to forget began surging up once again. Naruto-sensei did say he was an orphan, so something as much as saying he had no family would definitely sting, but for him to look this depressing was simply a different change of pace from the upbeat person he usually was. She had to see for herself just what makes Naruto-sensei more enigmatic than the rest. She turned to the motherly figure of 3A who also had the biggest bust in their class.

Naba Chizuru looked mildly concerned at their sensei. At first she wanted to scold Ayaka but decided not to, she knew about Ayaka's problem and she knew just how much it devastated the poor girl when she found out her soon to be baby brother was already dead. She saw Kazumi-chan walk towards her with a smile on her face.

"Chizu-nee, I came to ask you a favour." She said as the said girl raised her eyebrows at this.

"Ara, what would you want with me, Kazumi-chan?" She asked with a sincere smile.

"I know that you're really good with having people open up with their problems, being like a mother figure and all, so I'd like for you to cheer up Naruto-sensei!" Kazumi exclaimed, Naruto was already far ahead so they weren't heard at that.

"Why would you want me to do that, Kazumi-chan?" Asked the girl, Kazumi merely gave another smile and said, "Because I feel that he has more interesting stories than he lets on. He's so mysterious don't you think, Chizu-nee?"

Chizuru thought about this for a second before she gave a smile.

"I'll give it a shot, Kazumi-chan." She said before looking over at the blonde teacher who was walking silently right now.

"Naruto-sensei." Naruto turned around and saw Chizuru standing behind her, he looked curious for a moment and then asked, "What the matter, Chizuru-chan? Are you cold?"

The blonde quickly grabbed his bonnet and placed it on her head. Chizuru was blushing as she held it.

"Don't worry about it. I've got another back at the inn. Man, this place has a lot of deer. I bet that lazy bastard Shikamaru would faint if he had this much in his backyard." Naruto mused with a smile on his face; Chizuru looked at the blonde and said, "Naruto-sensei, about Iincho-san…"

Chizuru had no choice but to tell the blonde teacher about the past of the class president. Naruto could only give a smile at that.

"So please understand a little, Naruto-sensei… What Iincho-san said…"

"That she told me that I don't know what it feels like to lose a family member? I've been hearing about it since I was twelve so I don't think it's a big of a deal for me anymore. She's right though; I don't know how to feel about that. I don't know how to feel when I lose a real family because I never had one."

'_To have everything you hold dear and then lose them… What do you even know about MY SUFFERING?'_

'_It was like this, my family was killed in front of me by Konoha shinobi. You don't know how great it is to hold that kind of pain.'_

"All my life, people told me about that, but I always say to them, 'so what?'. Did they ever experience the cold numbing loneliness when they were six, five or even three? Did they even see just how terrible it is for a four year old to wash their own clothes, fend for his own food and watch as the world didn't even give a damn about you?" They continued to walk as Naruto petted a dear on its head.

"I don't know how much Ayaka treasured his brother, but I'm sure she loved him beyond all reason. Although I wanted to shout at her, I just couldn't find it within myself. Probably because she's a girl and she's looking for a substitute for a younger brother rather than whining about it, I don't know how to feel when I lose a family member, but I do know what it's like to lose someone very dear to you and I somehow feel that Ayaka shows more strength than she lets on." Naruto said with a melancholic smile. As he began to walk, Chizuru remained there standing, seemingly in awe at Naruto's maturity at the subject. They say that the person with the most smiles is actually the person that has more problems than someone who complains all the time.

He looked back to ask her with a joke about what the girl was just doing there standing when he saw a dear jumping over her head, with Konohamaru and the twins in on its back.

In a quick flash, Naruto had captured Chizuru in his strong arms as the male deer dashed away with Konohamaru chasing after said animal.

"Damn those two, as if pranking the park ranger wasn't enough… Hey, you two, get off that herbivore this instant!"

The brunette dashed away followed by the three cheerleaders.

"Hey! Wait for us!" The trio said as they chased after their sensei.

"Damn it, next time, Naruto-nii takes care of the twins!" The brunette yelled. Not noticing that said blonde was just behind them.

"Stupid apprentice, I knew I should have stayed with those girls instead." The blonde ranted, not noticing that Chizuru was quietly staring at the blonde with a blush on her face as she felt those big strong arms hold her tightly to his hard and chiselled body. She could feel every bump as she felt the muscles from the blonde flex with her body, her heart skipped a beat as she could hear his own heartbeat close to his chest.

"U-um… Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto noticed that he still had Chizuru in his arms and chuckled nervously, "Sorry about that, Chizuru-chan, I was paying attention to the chaos that was happening that I didn't even notice I was still holding you."

The blonde then added, "It wasn't like I would have minded though, you're very light!"

To this Chizuru grew an even bigger shade of red as Naruto set her down, her heart beating like crazy as he smiled.

"Thanks for listening though, now I feel a whole lot better!" The blonde said before walking away.

"GAH! STOP CHEWING ON MY HAIR YOU STUPID DEER!" Konohamaru shouted.

"HAHAHA! KARMA IS A BITCH KONOHAMARU, MAYBE NEXT TIME YOU'LL HAVE THE DECENCY TO STOP FROM RECORDING MY RAPPING SKILLS!"

And all was well again in the world.

Once they got back on the bus Naruto noticed was perturbed about something from the looks of it, it was serious. As in Kansai Magic Association serious, not wanting to question him around students that are barely aware of the subject except for a chosen few, he decided to let it slide for now.

He looked around and found a seat next to Ayaka once again, who now looked like she was okay with the whole matter. Ayaka wordlessly moved to the side as she stared at the window once again.

"I'm sorry about my outburst like that, Naruto-sensei, I'm sure it wouldn't happen again." She said a little robotically for his taste. But an apology was an apology, he guessed. So he gave a smile and patted her on the head.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't bother me anymore." He lied. Of course it still bothered him, but not as much as it used to.

As they made it back into the hotel, he had seen Negi look like he was about to get caught on fire just pacing around back and forth and staring at the mirror like he had somehow seen a ghost.

It didn't look like he could ask Negi right now so he decided to ask him when the girls were obviously asleep and they were out on patrol. So he decided to go back to his room and take a rest before going out on patrols.

As much as he wanted the night to be a normal one, Naruto couldn't help but feel the absolute terror escaping his person right now. Downstairs at the same time, the cup that Konohamaru had been drinking with tea suddenly had a crack on its side making the brunette scowl at the premonition; how he wished that tonight would be a normal one, it was his first night on patrol too.

Further to the hot springs, a sinister handshake has been made between the perverted ermine and that sly fox Asakura who was grinning from ear to ear at the proposition of the weasel.

Later into the night:

"Wouldn't it be a waste if we spend the night like this?" Asakura asked, a gleam in her eye. She had made a deal with Chamo earlier on and they agreed to make a whole lot of money for just the cards. Hohoho, life of luxury here she comes!

"Game? What kind of game?"

"No! As class president, I shall not allow it!"

"For!"

"Against! I don't want to do seiza in the lobby!"

Asakura smiled devilishly at this, as she laid her bait gently towards her prey.

"Let's just call it as "The War of the Lips" a competition to kiss Negi-sensei during this school trip." She said this with a sly grin, as the last of the opposition, particularly the class president, to fall.

Hook.

Line.

And sinker.

"As class president, I wholeheartedly approve!" She said patting the reporter on the shoulders with both arms laughing maniacally as she did so.

"Wait a minute! What about Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei?" One of the girls asked.

Asakura looked like she was set back at this, she didn't expect for the two teachers to be added into the fray as well. She looked closely to the ermine that only approved of it. After all, it wasn't as if the magical circle that the rat made would affect the blonde, it was only directed at Negi!

"Fine whatever, do it, Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei are the wild cards of this match, they are consolation prizes however, compared to the main objective."

To this, the girls happily complied with the set terms and rules given by Asakura.

In the room that Negi, Naruto and Konohamaru were staying at, the three could feel their spines tingling as if they telling them that they should get out of the inn. _Now._

"I shouldn't probably say this, but I think we should hide just to make sure we're safe." Konohamaru said, trying to heed what his gut was telling him.

"Aw c'mon, what the worse thing that could happen?" Naruto asked.

Famous last words.

* * *

To be continued…

And chapter six is done!

Phew, wanted to write this yesterday but couldn't find the time, no BETA here, but I'll explain one Jutsu that is non-canon and original (sort of)

* * *

Fuuton: Fuujin no Jingi

Transliteration: Wind Release: Sacred Treasure of the Wind God

Based from: Naruto Manga, Raikage's initial technique Raiton: Yoroi

Rank: B

Ability: Fuujin no Jingi is a technique that allows the user to move faster than a normal Shunshin, exceeding beyond super human speeds that most ninja of the Narutoverse are used to, the user is so fast that the supersonic travels that it uses earlier on leaves a powerful gust of wind at its wake and the pressure causes the ground beneath it cave in.


	7. Trouble in Paradise part 2

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Seven: Trouble at Paradise Part 2

* * *

No matter how she looked at it, the white rat was a genius. There was no mistaking that. For the last several minutes, they had managed to coax at least ten members of their class for this little game, rigged the surveillance cameras from the security, and even managed to provide a television for the rest of the class to watch the mayhem.

As Asakura and Chamo began their secret plan to create pactio cards and sell them over to become millionaires, they remembered that Naruto and Konohamaru were also in a different league on their own. Of course some of the girls of their class were attracted to the two as well, where Negi was the cute child that you just want to cuddle with, Naruto was the guy whose arms any girl want to melt in and a pretty good looks to boot (Naruto was very masculine if she had to phrase it in one word). She had seen Naruto shirtless before (Two days before the blackout, he was looking for Negi) and she could understand why Chizu-nee was a bit flustered when they got back and told her everything that happened when they were in Nara, holding on to the bonnet that Naruto-sensei had given her.

Then there was Konohamaru who acts like he was a mixture of both childish antics and maturity for his age. He's not as charming as Naruto or as cute as Negi, but there is still some form of disturbed past within the boy that appealed to the girls as well.

Asakura grinned at this. It was surely an exciting set up that would not only make her rich but also understand the world of magic a little better. Of course she wasn't solely doing it for the money, she was also doing for the sake of gathering information on the two remaining sensei in their midst, Naruto and Konohamaru. She had already discovered Negi's secret earlier on when Asakura stumbled upon Negi saving a cat from a speeding van. After seeing Negi breakdown from the pressure earlier and having a ride on his magical staff (no double entendre intended here, perverts, stop snickering).

Now, all that was needed was for Naruto or Negi to talk to themselves in front of a Camera…

With Naruto:

The trio were already outside the hotel as they walked on the corridor that led to the main road. The traps still have yet to be touched, meaning that those idiots won't likely try to invade the hotel anytime soon. Naruto took this opportunity to ask Negi what was on his mind right now.

"Negi, don't mind me asking but, I've noticed you've been really out of it since this afternoon. Care to tell me what happened?" Naruto asked, he was checking his ninja tools in his pouch looking to see if he had enough.

"It's nothing! It's not like someone confessed to me or anything!" Negi lied, Konohamaru saw this a mile away.

"Yeah, sure, keep telling yourself that, Negi. I'm sure it wouldn't help if you keep it to yourself." Konohamaru explained.

Negi gave a big sigh as he said to Konohamaru about what happened earlier in Nara. Konohamaru wasn't sure about what to do with the boy as he scratched his head; nobody ever confessed to him yet so he didn't know what to do. Naruto however, had been confessed to by a lot of women already all in the span of one to two years. So far, he's had a few experiences on how to deal with it so Konohamaru nudged the blonde with an elbow that the blonde found annoying.

"You help him how to deal with this." Konohamaru said to him. Naruto gave a sigh and said, "You do know I'm as much as a fish out of water in these things like Negi is, right?"

"Well, you've been confessed to by a lot of women and two of them were born of nobility so…"

"Did they really, Naruto-nii-san? Did a lot of girls actually confess to you?" Negi asked the blonde. Naruto looked to his side trying to find a way out but couldn't, sadly. He sighed and resigned to his fate,

"Four of them did, well; the other one didn't count because she was lying to herself and the other well… She gave a 'proposition' that I couldn't understand at first until she spelled it out for me (Naruto carefully chose his words for this). But in most cases I was taken by surprise or wasn't REALLY paying attention back there." Naruto admitted as Negi somehow looked down, seemingly finding it hard on how to deal with it.

"So what did you do?" Negi asked, he was trying to at least get Naruto to answer on how he dealt with it.

"There are a lot of circumstances that I've had to deal with. The one that said to me that she loved me for the first time was during a great crisis. She almost died there and I almost lost myself into a fit of rage because of it. I've had the chance to talk to her since then and I tried to do something to make me understand more about her."

"Which was?"

"I simply became her friend at first. The first time you get to know someone is when you become friends. It's the only way you get to know her without invading her personal space for no apparent reason and not actually rushing things." Naruto said.

Negi seemed to understand this as he nodded without hesitation. Konohamaru's eyes were twitching. He looked over to his right and saw a shadow jumping to the side. Startled at this, the brunette quickly drew his kunai from both his hands that were hidden under his sleeves.

He leaned on the wall to hide himself, intent on observing the person or creature that had managed to bypass Naruto's traps.

"Oi, Konohamaru, what the hell are you doing? You're scaring Negi with that look. See?" To this Naruto gestured to the red head that looked somewhat uneasy.

Konohamaru simply shrugged it off and looked back once again on the creeping shadow's area. He found none.

Konohamaru simply looked before going back with the two, still wary at what he plainly saw earlier.

"Hey Naruto-nii-san, Konohamaru-nii-san, do you think those Shikigami stencils would be enough as a substitute for me?" Negi asked, Naruto didn't look amused by it.

"No, because you suck at writing Katakana, how many times did you write your name before you could correctly spell it? Five? Next thing you know Hogi Nupringfield would be walking down the corridor without any idea what to do." Naruto commented.

"B-But I saw what you did with your clones earlier and I thought it would be cool!" Negi defended himself. Naruto looked at the redhead before giving a hearty laugh.

"Negi, aren't you forgetting something?"

Negi paused for a moment there and realized why Naruto was laughing; he looked rather embarrassed about what he said.

"That's right. Different method, different energy source, though I got to hand it to you, Negi, thinking up a substitute so that you can go on patrol? That's a rather smart and stupid way to go about it." Naruto mentioned, giving off a grin that made Negi look sheepish a little.

Negi looked curiously as to what the blonde meant when he suddenly yawned. It was past ten in the evening and he was rather tired with all the stress going on right now. He just hoped Asakura wouldn't try spreading his secret all over the world like she threatened last time.

"That's what I meant when I said it was kind of stupid. You're still a kid, Negi, you need your rest."

"B-but… The students…"

"… Will be perfectly fine as long as either Konohamaru or I are awake." Naruto had cut him off there.

To this, the blonde turned to his apprentice, "Am I right, Konohamaru?"

Konohamaru was looking around sharply; he still hasn't gotten rid of the pair of kunai in his hands.

When Naruto asked him, he was immediately brought out of his musings and said, "Yeah, sure."

Just then, something rustled within the bushes, as if disturbing their nightly stroll. Konohamaru was instantly on guard as Naruto somewhat looked concerned.

"I knew I wasn't imagining things!" Konohamaru shouted as he was about to flick his hand and throw the kunai, he was immediately stopped by the blonde.

A cat had managed to go out of the bushes as Naruto stared at his apprentice annoyingly.

"Konohamaru, are you anxious tonight because you couldn't do any patrols the night before?" Asked the blonde, in turn, Konohamaru scowled right back.

"Of course I am, it's not like I got to meet the enemy in person, you know!"

To this, Naruto bonked him in the head hard.

"You idiot! You're worrying over a stupid cat! It's not like some malicious force is going to jump us right now and start attacking! They'd have to bypass five hundred meters of incendiary paper bombs first!"

As the two started bickering, inside the hotel, another fight was taking place.

As soon as Asakura had given the signal, the girls were already running around the inn trying to find their targets. The resulting aftermath could be summarized as chaos. The first that clashed were the class president's group with Hasegawa Chisame between Sasaki Makie and Akashi Yuuna. Those that actually have a thing for the child teacher were already duking it out with their pillows while Yuuna had decided to double team Ayaka only to trip to see a much unmotivated Chisame smashing her pillow against Yuuna's head.

"Why me?" Chisame asked. It wasn't HER fault why the class president was a total nutjob that had a thing for a pre-pubescent boy. It wasn't HER fault why she got stuck with her! So, why is it that she was the one suffering from the crazy fangirl's aspiration to steal a kiss from a boy? A ten year old boy at that!

Chisame kept smashing Yuuna's face with her pillow as if she was venting all her anger and frustrations from their class president down to the poor victim.

Stupid Iincho and her shota complex!

Stupid Asakura and her crazy plan that got her involved in this!

Stupid girls that only want to steal a kiss from a ten year old (rather than be sad about that predicament towards her classmates, it just pissed her off even more)!

"Oh my, it looks like Chisame-san has turned into a pillow berserker with continuously hitting an already unconscious Yuuna!"

Asakura narrated, Chisame's murderous glance turned to the camera as if she KNEW that Asakura was paying attention to her.

It was then that Kuu Fei had jumped from the stairs and hit Chigusa in the face with a pillow with enough force that she was unconscious. Ayaka refused to give however as she shakily stood up and stared Makie in the eye.

"I will not lose!"

To the side, Kaede watched with smile on her place as the three way battle, well more like one sided seeing as Kuu Fei was easily manhandling Ayaka and Makie. To this, Chisame was groaning as she asked Kaede.

"Why aren't you joining them?" The bespectacled girl asked, Kaede merely gave a knowing smile and said, "It's because Negi-bozu isn't my target, de gozaru."

"Then who is it?"

This was the first time Chisame saw Kaede's eyes as it was somehow filled with determination, her green teal eyes were staring at Chisame with a grin.

"My target is a secret, de gozaru. Nin, nin!"

Just outside the hotel, Naruto sneezed before slightly shivering.

He didn't know what came over him just now, but he felt as if his spine shook like it was anticipating something. He looked at his hands which were somewhat shaking. He didn't know if it was fear or he was anticipating something. But he felt it; he looked back at his younger companions and found them in the same situation as well, although, he was the most obvious in showing it.

"You okay, Naruto-nii-san?"

"Just a sneeze, it's nothing too serious."

"If you're sure…" Negi said unconvinced.

Back into the hotel, as the three-way battle was commencing, a rather angry voice had interrupted them.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Cue to the girls scrambling to get away and Nitta-sensei managing to get a hold of Yuuna and Chisame.

"Oohh, what terrible amount of luck has befallen for Chisame and Yuuna who are now caught by the devil himself! That seiza would really hurt until morning!"

As soon as the chaos erupted all around the upper floors, down below, Naruto, Negi and Konahamaru were having a veritable amount of time walking under the cold air of the night.

They heard a few ruckuses here and there but he never heed it any mind at all, if anything, it made him smile.

"Looks like the girls are having some fun right now. It wasn't THIS loud last night. I guess they want to go to the trip as much as anyone does." Naruto commented taking out a can of coffee he picked up earlier at the vending machine (they were pretty darn useful, he might add). He looked upwards while he drank a few sips and saw Nodoka and Yue were crawling towards the fire escape that leads to their room.

The blonde shook his head and looked again, finding nothing there.

"That's it, no more pre-brewed coffee for me." Naruto mentioned as he downed the can on to the ground as Konohamaru and Negi watch in utter confusion as to why the blonde would do that.

They rounded up to a corner and heard Negi giving off a yawn. The blonde chuckled at this as Negi rubbed his eyes, he was getting sleepy.

"Well now, looks like our class advisor's pretty beat. What do you say we all hit the sack?"

Konohamaru looked like he was ready for this; he was damn sleepy as well. it seemed that he still hasn't recovered from the exhaustion of his fight with Chachamaru fully.

As they made it to the front door, they were met with five sounds of minor explosions. Curious as to what it was, Naruto went in only to find Nodoka standing still near the door.

"Nodoka-chan, what are you doing around here? Shouldn't you be in bed right about now?" Then he gave a sly smile, "Or did you come here to see Negi?"

Nodoka blushed at this, Naruto, however, shoved Nodoka a little towards Negi who was almost half asleep. She looked utterly embarrassed at this as Naruto gave a huge grin and said, "Well? What are you waiting for? Youth waits for no one!"

Konohamaru, who had suddenly shuddered at Naruto's last statement suddenly turned pale as he looked at the blonde. The apprentice said to his master, "Don't say that, you're starting to creep me out."

"Youth?"

"STOP IT NARUTO-NII, STOP IT! YOU'RE ALREADY ECCENTRIC AS IT IS, THE LAST THING I NEED IS YOU SPOUTING OFF NONSENSE ABOUT YOUTH! DO YOU KNOW THAT I GET NIGHTMARES SEEING GAI-SENSEI AND ROCK LEE HUGGING BEFORE ME?"

"Hmmm… Miyazaki-san?" Negi looked surprised at seeing Nodoka at this hour, as the one who started the conversation.

"U-um… About what happened earlier…"

Negi held his hand up and gestured for the girl to stop, "I'm sorry, Miyazaki-san, but to like someone… I still don't know how to give a proper answer."

To this, Negi looked at Naruto and Konohamaru who were grinning and giving thumbs up to Negi.

"Of course, I like Miyazaki-san, I also like Asuna-san and Konoka-san… I like everybody in class. I mean it as like that of student teacher relationships."

By this time Naruto and Konohamaru were looking intently at their youngest friend.

"I don't know how to give a proper answer but… How about we start of as friends?" Negi suggested. Nodoka paused for a moment before smiling, Yue, who was behind Nodoka seemed satisfied at this as Naruto and Konohamaru began teasing the boy.

"Negi, Nodoka, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Both shouted at the same time, both linking arms and going in a circle.

"Naruto-nii-san, Konohamaru-nii-san! Stop it!" The red head said, obviously embarrassed. If his red face was any indication.

"We would if we could but… We won't." Naruto answered as both he and Konohamaru continued to laugh hard.

"Negi, you sly dog you! Maybe before you become fifteen you might have more conquests than Naruto-nii has!"

"Oi! They are NOT conquests! Can I help it if I am simply such a badass dude? And how dare you insinuate that I fail in love!" Naruto quickly corrected.

The two began bickering again as they didn't notice Nodoka's suggestion to get back up. Yue, who looked like she was just simply drinking juice, suddenly extended her leg and Nodoka fell right on Negi, their lips meeting together as a silent minute passed by between them.

The two that were arguing, quickly stopped their quarrel as they saw Negi kissing Nodoka directly on the lips.

"Negi, you ten-year-old bastard! How dare you get a kiss on age ten! Naruto does not approve!" Naruto suddenly snapped he was utterly seething at the lucky predicaments Negi had always been in. He looked outside and saw a faint light by the window. Naruto's scowl deepened further.

"Chamo… That perverted little rat, when I get my hands on him… I'll k-gack!…"

Naruto and Konohamaru suddenly grabbed by their necks, as the cameras were suddenly cut off from the television sets around the hotel.

"Hoihoihoi. Looks like I found my target de gozaru." Kaede said with a smile as Naruto looked utterly confused.

Naruto's reaction was a flat out, "What?"

"Now close your eyes, Naruto-sensei, this will be all over in a second, de gozaru."

Naruto paled at that, he remembered the time when those nurses said it to him when they were in the hospital which Naruto was gullible enough back then to actually do. The next thing he knew, he was being molested and held at places he normally wouldn't want. (shudder)

Naruto wanted to open his eyes, he really did, but he somehow felt that if he did, he'd be staring at something he didn't want to. So he kept it shut. So much was his fear of the unknown at this, that he almost didn't feel the fact that his lips were being sucked dry. It wasn't painful, no, far from it. It was like being pulled by something of the same composition as his lips and something warm had entered his mouth, was it air? It sure felt like it! This time, he did open his eyes only to see a smiling Kaede who looked like she grew a pair of fox ears. Naruto shook his head and snap him out of his hallucinations, nope, Kaede was only giving that mischievous smile that he was known for.

"Looks like the consolation prize is mind, de gozaru…"

"What prize?" Naruto asked, to this, Kaede merely grinned.

"I don't know, why don't you go ask Asakura, Naruto-sensei?"

With that Kaede was gone.

"Wai! Konohamaru-sensei's here! We still have a price!" Fuuka shouted, Fumika was telling her to calm down.

"Shh! What if you wake up, Nitta-sensei? I don't want to do Seiza!"

"Fine! Let's just get this over with!" Fuuka exclaimed, Konohamaru was looking at the twins, surprised they were wearing ninja attire.

"What is going on here?" The brunette asked as his mind was racing with ideas that the two were planning another practical joke. He was about to scold the two when he felt wet sloppy kisses from both girls on his cheeks before going away.

"Wha?" the brunette can only ask as he saw the girls run off back to their room.

As they all turned around, they saw a conscious Nitta looking at them with a grim face. Everyone of the girls gulped while Naruto greeted the old man.

"Yo, Nitta-sensei? Shouldn't you be in bed? It is pretty late you know" The blonde asked, to which, the man's eyebrow twitched.

"I should ask that question to you, Naruto-sensei. Although you're a marvelous Japanese teacher, I will not tolerate your lax attitude towards this class!"

"Lighten up, Nitta-sensei, they were just playing. Besides, tomorrow's free activity day, right? Why don't you let them be for now? Maybe they'll be too tired tomorrow to even eat breakfast!" The blonde reasoned. Nitta doesn't seem to be convinced.

"Naruto-sensei, I suggest you stay out of this or you too will be sitting with those two…" The old man pointed to Chisame and Yuuna who were sitting across the hall.

"For the next two hours!" Nitta threatened.

Naruto raised his hand, "Alright, alright, no need to be so antsy, Nitta-sensei. Come on Konohamaru, its best we get to sleep right now because tomorrow's going to be a big day."

With that, both Naruto and Konohamaru left the hall that was snickering slightly on the way up.

"As for you delinquents, including you Negi-sensei, honestly, I expected more from you."

With that, Negi and the others were left on the hall doing Seiza till' morning while Naruto and Konohamaru slept soundly.

* * *

The next day:

Naruto yawned and stretched a little, he scratched his back for a few seconds before getting up. He sniffed the morning air and found something unpleasant. He sniffed again and was widely awake as if something had jolted his senses with electricity. He looked at his clothing and sniffed. The blonde grimaced indefinitely as if smelling a rotten fruit. He grabbed his toiletries and headed downstairs. It seemed that throughout the whole commotion last night, he forgot to take a bath. Oh well, no use but to take one now.

As soon as he was about to head to the bathroom, he saw Negi scrambling to their room and mumbling about changing to casual wear. Naruto remembered it was free activity day so he called out to Negi.

"Hey, Negi! Get over here for a second!" The blonde requested, the boy quickly turned around and faced his elder.

"What is it, Naruto-nii-san?"

Naruto bit his thumb and drew blood, Negi flinched as he saw the blonde inflicting some pain on his person before going through a set of seals. With that, he slammed his hand on the ground and shouted the name of the technique.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)!"

Runic seals began stretching from under Naruto's palm onto the wooden floor as smoke seemingly burst under it. As the smoke cleared, a rather small red toad wearing a blue shihakusho had appeared before the blonde.

"Take this guy with you; I'll be late in hanging out with the others. Make sure this guy is with you all the time. If he senses any danger, it'll know what to do. Also, tell Konohamaru to be on guard."

With that, the blonde went into the cafeteria before going to the hot springs as he left the toad in Negi's care.

"Hello, my name is Gamamitsu! I'm a summoner frog!" Said the red toad with enthusiasm; Negi, however, looked confused.

"Eh, you're a summon animal who can summon?" Negi asked, the frog nodded, "Not exactly summon, I can do just the reverse of what Naruto-oyabun can do to us. Whenever I see danger, I'll be the one to summon him!"

Negi looked rather interested, "I see so not only can he summon you, but you can also summon him! That's a very unique aspect of it!"

"Not really, all summon animals in our realm can do it. But the occurrence is very rare. Reverse summoning happens when we deem a human worthy to inherit the teachings of our tribe." Replied the red frog; Gamamitsu was now sitting on Negi's head as he explained to the boy the qualifications of reverse summoning.

"Summon Animals have different uses in battle, there's one for tracking, one for battle, and one for supplementary. Our tribe is battle oriented, like how the monkey tribe, for example, is a mixture of supplementary and battle."

Negi remembered the time he first saw Konohamaru-nii-san's summon, King Enma.

"So what are the teachings did your tribe give to Naruto-nii-san?" He asked, looking up as they were about to head to the back exit of the inn.

"Naruto-nii-san, is a being that surpasses the limit of a shinobi. He can become one with nature by inheriting the wisdom and ability of sages."

"Sage? As in a wise man?" Negi asked, the frog merely chuckled.

"It's something close to that. A sage is what you would call, one with nature, Naruto-oyabun can obtain enough energy around him that he becomes superhuman by definition. He can lift boulders more than ten times his size and can leap really high! He only uses that state when he feels he can't defeat a person with a simple jutsu or two."

"Wow… That must mean his opponent is really strong if he goes into that state, right?"

"That's right, and since it's been a year, he hasn't been using it as much as he used to, though he's still very good at it. Fukasaku-sama mentioned once that Oyabun can maintain sage mode without their help, it's the first time it happened!"

As Gamamitsu kept talking, Negi had already made his way out, of the hotel and was even more fascinated about Naruto-nii-san's ability. Negi, for the first time, wished that he was Naruto for a moment there; the blonde was strong, stronger than anyone he had ever met. The fact that he managed to toy with Evangeline and stomped the competition earlier proves how powerful Naruto was. It was a fact that he could not deny.

Whatever Naruto-nii-san has gone through, he wished he could do so as well!

As soon as he was out, he was met with Asuna and their group along with Konohamaru wearing his casual outfit. But the brunette then added his forest green flak vest over his black shirt since it was a bit cold and a khaki pouch on his lower back.

"Hey, Negi, I'll be hanging out with you guys for now. Naruto-nii will be late anyways so I'll be taking his place."

It was then that Negi grabbed the red frog over his head and gave it to Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru-nii-san, Naruto-nii-san said to take this with us at all times in case we get into trouble.

Konohamaru's smile soon turned to a frown at this. So it was a last minute option, right? Figures. Naruto-nii was never one to be left behind on all the action.

As he was about to grab the small frog, Konoka looked at it rather enthusiastically.

"Oh wow, it's a cute frog, it even has a cute little costume! Where did you get this, Negi-kun?"

Negi could only shrug at this, "I got this from Naruto-nii-san, it's a… Goodluck charm!"

He lied. The frog looked distressed as it was within Konoka's hands. When she was done, Konohamaru grabbed the frog from Konoka's arms and put Gamamitsu in one of his front pockets.

Negi looked rather distressed at this seeing as there were a lot of people in their group that could get involved in their mission. Haruna, Yue, Nodoka and Konoka didn't know anything about the real reason behind the trip, but he let it slide this time, it seemed group five didn't have any plans anyway. The trio could lose them mid-way anytime they were distracted.

Negi looked perturbed as they made their way towards Arashiyama Sagano. Konohamaru quickly noticed this.

"Negi, whatever you do, don't make any sudden movements, they'll notice us more." The brunette advised as they made their way to the arcade.

"Hey it's a photo booth; let's take a sticker photo everybody!" Haruna invited them; Konohamaru looked on with a raised eyebrow.

To this, Haruna called him over as well, "Come on, Konohamaru-sensei, join us as well!"

Konohamaru could only shrug as all eight of them took pictures with one another, there was one with Negi and Nodoka, one with Setsuna and Konoka, another with Negi, Asuna and Konohamaru, one with Negi and Konohamaru who was rubbing Negi's head with a closed fist, Negi and Asuna, one with Negi, Haruna and Yue, and another with Konohamaru, Haruna and Yue.

As Haruna looked over the photos, her mind instantly began turning gears in it.

"There's something weird about these photos…"

She looked over Setsuna and Konoka with a slight grin, to which Yue, thankfully or not, dismissed.

"You're just imagining things."

As soon as they made their way to the arcade, Chamo saw the perfect opportunity to escape.

"Aniki, Ane-san! This is your chance! Once they get distracted with the games you three can escape! Play some games and go with the flow for now!"

Konohamaru smirked at this, "What do you know, perverted rat, it looks like you CAN come up with some good plans after all."

"Konohamaru-aniki, that's a little cruel!" The ermine uttered, Konohamaru gave a little chuckle.

"Don't worry about it." Said the brunette as the trio walked over to the game that Haruna explained was a limited edition of what they used to play. As soon as Haruna explained the Mechanics of the game, Negi had already obtained a veritable skill in the game. He was challenged however, by this strange boy that wore a beanie hat.

He watched in mild fascination as Negi tried the game and won for the first time, to his side, Setsuna was closely monitoring Konoka. The brunette said to her, "How long are you going to stand there and not talk to her?"

"This is the best way, Konohamaru-sensei." Setsuna sadly declared.

"The best way isn't exactly the right way, you know, Sakurazaki. Are you going to wallow in your misery forever even if you feel that you're hurting your friend?" Konohamaru asked, Setsuna shook her head unrelenting of her decision.

"Konohamaru-sensei, I failed to protect Ojou-sama back then, I simply cannot wish to step by her side because of this failure."

Konohamaru shook his head, "You can only fail to protect someone, if that person you're trying to protect is dead."

"You sound as if you speak from experience, sensei." Setsuna said retorted. Seemingly surprised at what Konohamaru had just said.

"I am, and I have to say, I've made a bigger failure than you could ever hope to have right now. My only advice is to never regret that you share your time with the person you cherish the most, we won't be here forever, you know. I know it sounds lame coming from me, but don't take it with a grain of salt, don't you know that by hurting yourself, you're also hurting Konoka?"

As soon as he said those words, Asuna and Negi looked over to him and he nodded. He grabbed Gamamitsu who was looking around from his pocket and gave it to Setsuna who accepted it.

"I'm sure Naruto-nii has a better way to talk to you for you to understand." With that, Konohamaru ran with Asuna and Negi, fully intent on delivering the letter to the Kansai Magic Association.

As soon as they went out, they rode a train towards the direction where the said place was. Unbeknownst to them, Nodoka had followed them secretly.

They made their way at the entrance of the said association with all three of them looking up.

"Wow, it's like a fushimi shrine." Negi marvelled. Konohamaru on the other hand, simply looked to his side. It was far too tranquil for his taste. There were no guards around the area to assess them or even block them off, merely a no entry sign. It was suspicious, too suspicious on his part. He looked over at the new voice that had appeared to guide them. It was Setsuna wearing a white Shihakusho and a blue Hakama. However, unlike the real Setsuna, this was smaller and can easily perch on Asuna's shoulder which it did. Konohamaru paid no mind to it, still looking around by the entrance, still wary.

"What are you standing there for, Konohamaru? We got a letter to deliver!" Asuna rudely interrupted, Konohamaru simply replied, "Yeah, yeah, keep your shirt on!"

As soon as they made it inside, they began trekking upwards. Konohamaru noticed that they passed by the same tree a few minutes ago. He wondered at that. Grabbing a kunai from his pocket, he marked the tree trunk with his kunai when Negi and Asuna weren't looking just to be sure.

By the time he had caught up with Negi and Asuna, the mark that he left at the tree was still there.

A few more minutes later, Asuna was already complaining, "How long is the stupid walkway to get to the main building, anyway?"

"Could it be?" Chibi Setsuna questioned as she suggested to Negi to scout ahead. Konohamaru checked the tree to make sure it was the same mark he had left, he was right.

"We're in a loop." Konohamaru mentioned as Negi appeared just behind Asuna, confirming his suspicions as well.

Chibi Setsuna then suggested to get to the forest, but with the same amount of luck, they arrived to where Asuna and Konohamaru were.

"It's just as I feared, we are stuck in an infinite Time-Space magic spell. We are currently inside a looping field that extends to about five hundred meters." Chibi Setsuna mentioned, to this Konohamaru scowled.

"Is there a way we can get out of this?" The brunette asked, Chibi Setsuna shook her head, "Unless we can find a way how this spell is constructed or an outside interference we can't escape this area."

Konohamaru inwardly cursed, he shouldn't have left that summoning frog earlier!

"Damn it, just when you think the Hiraishin (Flying Thunder God) would actually help us here, I screw it up! I shouldn't have left that frog in Sakurazaki's care!" Konohamaru cursed as he punched the tree that shattered the outer trunk.

Asuna had a feeling of dread escape her as she shot up and began running.

"AHHH! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

With that the pigtailed girl ran as fast as she can, looking for a restroom. Konohamaru soon followed until they actually saw a rest stop.

As soon as Asuna had done her business, Konohamaru had taken the liberty to study the area around them, there were full of trees but no people around, the silence around them was deafening the only sounds that he could hear were the sounds of their own voices, not even birds were heard chirping.

The three then went over their combat abilities and discussed the differences between Ki and Magic. Konohamaru listened intently as to how magic can enhance human performance and even create a shield around the minister magi.

It was damn useful in his mind as he saw the rock that Asuna tried to break earlier was shattered with a simple punting kick. This time, Konohamaru WAS surprised. It was like a milder version of Naruto's sage mode.

As Negi began contemplating about his skills, Konohamaru had suddenly looked sharp, he glanced sideways as if it was the first time that he detected something in this world.

'_Chakra? No, it's impossible. The people here don't have that in their system; it's been weeks and we have yet __to detect them. Then what is it?' _Konohamaru asked himself. It certainly FELT like chakra, even as far as it was definitely familiar, but not so much. It felt like it had something missing in it.

"Maybe I should infuse magic in my body too to see what it's like." Negi mulled over the idea, as he simply stood there thinking about it.

"Well you could do that, it's basically the same principles applied. However I wouldn't recommend it, a mage MUST use magic after all." Chibi Setsuna uttered, Chamo looked at Konohamaru, as the brunette looked from side to side, his facial features were sharp.

As Chamo looked at Konohamaru closely, he noticed that the boy's hands were rigid and stiff, as if he was preparing for something, it was close to his side, so it must be he was going to grab a weapon from his back.

"Don't worry though; I'm sure you two can handle any ordinary mage that the Kansai Magic Association sends." Setsuna reassured them, as Asuna smirked at this, "Of course, those guys are no match for us."

"Hehehe… I can't let that comment go unopposed!"

"Whose there?" Chibi Setsuna suddenly stood alert as Konohamaru quickly grabbed a kunai from his pouch and threw it upward.

The boy from earlier had caught the blade within his hands as his elongated nails touched the blade. He was riding on top of what seemed to be a giant spider on.

"Hehehe… That's a pretty good throwing arm you got there, nii-san!"

Konohamaru gave a smirk at that as well "What are you talking about? I wasn't even aiming at you."

"Ah, a warning shot, eh? Or more like a warning throw? I like that nii-san. You look like you're always ready to pick a fight!" The boy commented, Konohamaru simply smirked again.

"I don't pick fights, you punk. They pick me." The brunette said as he began twirling a kunai with his right index finger.

"Maybe you should try me for once, before mouthing of something like that." The boy said, Konohamaru didn't even look intimidated as he said to the boy, "Don't worry, I'll be picking on you soon enough, you punk."

The boy didn't even have to say anything as he smirked at that.

Negi soon recognized their opponent, "Ah, you're the boy from earlier!"

"Don't lose your focus Negi, concentrate on your magic and we'll do the rest!" Konohamaru shouted as he grabbed another kunai from his pouch and threw it at the boy.

The boy simply deflected the weapon with the knife that Konohamaru had thrown earlier.

He was thoroughly surprised however, when Konohamaru had appeared above him with his hand blazing as it was balled into a fist.

"Katon: Nensho Kouken (Fire Release: Burning Tiger Fist)!" Konohamaru descended upon the boy like a bomb as he was about to unleash the wrath of his flames upon the boy, the spider immediately jumped backwards, taking down the countless bamboo shoots in its way, as Konohamaru struck the ground below that turned into a small from the force of his attack. Going through another set of seals, Konohamaru leaned back and inhaled deeply, his breath soon igniting as it turned to flames.

"Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Skill)"

The breath of fire raged forth as it chased after the spider that was jumping from side to side, the streak of red flames igniting the forest in embers. He saw the spider in the peak of its jump. Seeing their chance, Konohamaru shouted to Negi.

"Negi! Do it!"

Negi instantly nodded.

"Activate the contract for ninety seconds, for the disciple of Negi Springfield, Asuna Kagurazaka!"

Asuna's body was soon infused with magical energy as she dashed towards the arachnid at blinding speeds. She stopped as the insect was within an arm's reach and let go of a thunderous punch that forced through the thick armour of the spider.

"Adeat!" Asuna shouted and soon, her Harisen appeared in her hands, she smashed the thing against the monster's head as it looked like the creature was loosing substance before turning back into paper once again. The hot flames of Konohamaru's jutsu burned it as it swayed in the air.

"Not bad, onee-chan." The boy suddenly declared as he was on the sidelines,

"I've heard that there was a middle school girl with strange powers that can break enchantments. So that was you, all along huh? I even brought a powerful ward and it still wasn't enough." The boy commented as he looked over at Negi.

"As for you, you're still a small fry; the amazing one here is that Onee-chan over there! Aren't you embarrassed to be protected by a girl? This is why I don't like western mages!"

Konohamaru had suddenly appeared behind him, kunai drawn about to slash his back.

"You talk too much, you punk." Konohamaru said before the kid had managed to dodge the blow with a somersault and a kick to Konohamaru's back which the brunette parried with both his arms.

He threw the kid away from him as he said.

"The law of the battlefield states that to be victorious in a fight, everything must be done in order to win. That means anything. From allies, to weapons, to tricks, nothing is barred in battle!" Konohamaru declared. It was a law he knew too well.

The boy grew alert of the brunette that stood on the roof in front of him; the older boy bypassed his defences that easily, if he hadn't detected him at the last minute, he could have been hurt.

"You're ruthless, you know that, onii-san?" the boy remarked, Konohamaru was silent.

"I'm not ruthless…" Konohamaru muttered before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

"What?" the boy was surprised before a hand shot up from below him.

"I just obey what's written in the law!" Konohamaru said, grabbing the boy from the collar and giving the boy a headbutt straight to the forehead.

Both staggered back as Konohamaru's forehead started to bleed as did the boy's.

Konohamaru recovered first as he gave the boy a powerful uppercut straight to the chin before smashing another fist straight to boy's face. The boy smirked as he anticipated the next attack. He brought his hands together as Konohamaru delivered another punch, the boy smirked as it only grazed him leaving behind a small cut on his right cheek, the boy before him smirked as his hand glowed reaching Konohamaru at his abdomen. Konohamaru wasn't prepared for this as he was suddenly punched in the gut staggering him back.

Konohamaru coughed blood out of his mouth as he said at the boy, "You're good."

"Same to you, nii-san!" The boy smirked as he dashed at Konohamaru once again. Konohamaru then used the tiger seal with his hands as flames erupted from them. He dashed at Kotarou as both fighters clashed with their fists.

Konohamaru instantly ducked when the boy made the first move, Konohamaru instantly reached up for another uppercut that barely hit the boy.

The boy instantly grinned as Konohamaru saw the kick heading towards him. He was sent flying as he cringed in pain, wrecking the stall on the side with a powerful push.

Konohamaru flinched as he stood up, he smirked at this and said, "Not bad, kid, not bad at all!"

Konohamaru then rushed at the boy at an incredible pace, punching him in the gut that sent him in midair, Konohamaru didn't let up as he jumped and continued pummelling the boy before giving off a powerful kick to his side. Sending him flying to the opposite direction and through the bamboo shoots.

The boy staggered up as he said to Konohamaru, "Pretty damn impressive, Onii-san, you're really strong! What's your name?"

"Sarutobi Konohamaru, and don't you forget it!" Said Konohamaru as he dashed at the boy once again, the boy did so too, only this time, he applied ki to his whole body, the boy instantly grew in strength as he dashed at the shinobi. It was then that Konohamaru was distracted, the feeling of detecting the boy earlier occurred again.

He detected the boy immediately when he applied ki all around his body. As the boy went faster than he predicted!

In that moment of distraction, he felt a sudden rush of power from the boy as Konohamaru felt a strong surge of energy entering his body as the boy collided his fist upon Konohamaru's face.

Konohamaru was sent flying and through the tables, effectively disabling him from the fight.

"You're next, small fry!" the boy said as he pointed to Negi.

Negi looked like their hope was dashed by the power of the boy that stood before them.

* * *

To be continued…

Okay to Konohamaru's defence, he was momentarily distracted from the fight, because of the sudden influx of energy that resembled chakra. In a fight a simple distraction can come a long way. A proof of this was with the battle of Naruto and Sasuke in the hospital roof with Naruto using the sun to temporarily blind Sasuke and hitting him square in the face.

Honestly? I wanted to skip the kissing game as I can't come up with something hilarious in it. Well, that is except for the coffee part but that is neither here nor there. Anyway, I've got an idea on what to do with the next part, just remember Konohamaru isn't entirely out of the fight yet. Though, I would rank Konohamaru higher than Koutarou at the moment, because of wartime experience, adaptability (Fire and Earth) and use of Ninjutsu (more of that next chapter).

Also, that rap Naruto did a few chapters back; it was a transliterated version of Hero's Come Back (First Shippuuden OP) by Nobody Knows.


	8. Improvise, Improvise and Improvise!

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Eight: Improvise, Improvise, And Improvise!

* * *

Negi couldn't believe on what had laid before his very eyes. Konohamaru-nii-san has been defeated by this new enemy that didn't even look like he was older than him. As Konohamaru-nii-san lay out in front of him unconscious, he suddenly felt almost anxious as the boy walked over towards them with a smile on his face as he wiped some blood away from his mouth.

His bonnet had been burned off from Konohamaru's jutsu earlier, exposing his head and revealing a pair of dog ears above on his hair.

"Now it's your turn, small fry." The boy said as he clenched his right hand and balled into a fist, the boy was giving that smirk as if he was about to enjoy on what was to happen next.

As soon as the boy knocked Konohamaru out, he went over to Negi who had already began his spell. The boy easily dodged Asuna's strikes on him, flowing through her attacks like water in a stream, seemingly unrelenting as he passed by her without as much as a problem.

"Flans Exarmatio (Blow forth and disarm)!" Negi shouted. Negi extended his left hand towards the mysterious boy as the said person grabbed a handful of talismans from his jacket.

The boy grinned as the charms were torn to shreds from Negi's spell. However, it did not mean that he would be sent away as well. He reeled his left arm back, as he put pressure on Negi's extended hand with his own. With a wide grin, the boy easily punched Negi straight to his cheek, sending him stumbling back from the blow and on the ground.

"Konohamaru-nii-san…" He muttered, he was thinking when Konohamaru would be up, sadly, he was laid prone in his position, on top of a pile of broken chairs and tables.

Negi, however, didn't lose hope, the boy stood his ground as proudly sat up and forced himself to stand to face the boy straight to the eye once again.

"I won't run away… I won't run away!" He repeated those words as if they were his mantra, wiping the blood that now dripped from his mouth as he once again aimed his spell.

"Don't bother!" the boy shouted as he went straight to Negi once again with fists already reeled back. Asuna, quickly saw her opportunity when the boy was directly looking at Negi, with her giant fan in hand, she dashed towards the boy and raised the fan over her head. Asuna then leapt at him, and swung her fan down on the boy's head that quickly blocked with his arm.

"Never trust your back is easily guarded." The boy mentioned as he extended right leg towards Negi who had then tried to form a barrier around him. It was useless as the boy easily broke through his spell and sent him flying once more.

As Negi stumbled on the ground, he took a quick glance at the brunette who was still lying on the wooden pile.

The boy quickly noticed this and smirked, "Heh, you're pinning your hopes on onii-san over there? I wouldn't count on it. A normal human would be knocked out with what I dished out earlier."

Negi begged to differ, Konohamaru and Naruto-nii were not normal humans or at least, that's what he knows about this. Both of them displayed incredible feats that even mages consider to be impressive. He looked back at the boy with the ebony hair. He was slowly walking towards him with an annoyed look on his face, "This is why all you western mages are all so weak. Maybe even that thousand master wouldn't be anything much, you shrimp!"

Negi didn't respond to that, instead, he got up and stared at the boy with a frown, he didn't like the way this boy was talking about his father, he didn't like the way he treated western mages why they were weak. It was slowly inching him closer and closer to his anger, but even then he dared not to show it. The magic academy often says that anger clouds reasoning, which serves as the very foundation of magic itself.

As the boy approached him with that smirk on his face, he noticed Chamo had already been on the move. The white ermine tossed a bottle of beverage he got from the vending machine in front of the boy, with a sudden performance from the said rat, a thick cloud of mist soon emerged around him, acting like a smokescreen as Chamo gave the orders to Asuna,

"We need a tactical retreat, Ane-san! Take care of Aniki!" The rat shouted.

Asuna quickly got on her feet and grabbed Negi into her arms, lifting him up and disappearing from the battle. As the mist cleared, the boy looked around and found no one around him, even the unconscious brunette earlier.

Unknown to any of them, someone from the sideways was inadvertently witnessing the events unfolding (even if she didn't know anything about it).

The quartet had managed to make it to a nearby stream; the four of them were discussing their next move as the brunette still lay there, unconscious from all that was around him.

"Argh! I can't believe Konohamaru was defeated that easily! I thought he was stronger than that!"

To this, Chibi Setsuna refuted to the pigtailed girl, "No, if you noticed it earlier, Asuna-san, Konohamaru-sensei was easily distracted by an unknown factor. I noticed it just before he and that Kuzoku clashed."

"What the hell is a Kuzoku?" Asuna questioned, to this, the Chibi Setsuna answered for her, "It's a wolf or fox type monster, in other words, a Youkai."

Asuna sighed in aggravation at this. Perfect, they were fighting monsters again, only this time, it was a wolf boy.

Asuna then explained to Negi how they defeated Evangeline earlier, and how easier this was compared to back then. It was then that Negi explained to Asuna that he needed to learn more about combat ability if he were to search for his father. He had explained to the girl just how Takahata had trained him in combat but the problem was the fact that he was still inexperienced in hand-to-hand compared to someone like Naruto who seemed like he was already fighting with years worth of experience. It was like it was programmed in his very instinct to fight.

"I have to win… In order to see my father once again, I have to win. In order to stand along with Naruto-nii-san and Konohamaru-nii-san, I have to overcome this obstacle." Negi stated as he stood up and balled his hands into fists.

The boy remembered what Naruto had said during their bout with Eva as he repeated those same words.

"In order to grow stronger, you will need to surpass the limits placed on you. You will need to go even further from what you are right now; to become strong means to go beyond reasoning and sometimes, winging it."

Asuna looked at her questioningly and said, "What? How does that even make sense?"

"I don't get it either, but coming a person like him, I think I can do it." He said with a smile this time.

With that, Negi spoke to Asuna on what to do.

"I've got a plan." He said as the boy quickly got over their strategies, this time, it was Negi dictating them on what to do, Chamo didn't seem sure of this.

After discussing it with the group, Negi, Asuna, Chamo and Chibi Setsuna jumped from their hiding place and into the pathway, seemingly facing the demon boy head on that was jumping on the wooden gates above.

"Evocatio Valcyriarum Contubernalia Gladiaria Contra Pugnent (I summon the Valkyries, sword wielding sisters of battle, confront and attack)!"

The streams of wind began to form around Negi and took shape, making clones of himself made of wind. The clones scattered about and headed towards the boy at incredible speeds. The black haired boy quickly got rid three of them with a flurry of punches and kicks. He then grabbed three throwing knives from his jacket and threw all three of them towards the clones, dispelling them completely.

"Sagitta Magica Serius Fulgralis (Magical Barrage Seventeen Arrows of Thunder)!" Negi chanted immediately after his clones as streams of lightning danced in the air and were aimed towards the boy. The boy blocked of the attacks aimed at him with some wards but they were quickly destroyed as the lightning ate away at the shielding charms.

The boy stopped as he tried to regain some balance, while Negi continued to pour magical strikes aimed at him with the next spell as the lightning arrows danced around the dog eared demon.

"Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat (A stream of light, cut through the night, spring forth from my hand and throttle mine enemy)!"

Negi held out his hand, the lightning arrows disappearing around the boy as his next spell took place.

"Fulguratio Albicans (White Lightning)!"

As the name implied, a stream of white lightning escaped from Negi's hand as it shot to the dog eared boy at unimaginable speeds. The boy groaned in pain as he felt a thousand needles started to prick his entire body continuously from the pain that the spell unleashed. The electrocution quickly made the boy's muscles spasm as he descended downwards, head first.

In a matter of seconds, it felt as if Negi had won, he had finally beaten that persistent boy. But all of it came crashing down when he recovered in mid air with a back flip and dashed towards Negi once more, his hand glowing with ki.

"Not bad! If I had taken the full brunt of that attack, it would have been terrible for me! You shattered all of my shield charms!" With that, the boy quickly went past Asuna, and skidded on the ground when he was near Negi, with a powerful shoulder blow, it sent Negi flying upwards. Asuna was about to come for Negi's aide when the boy, looked back at her and said, "Onee-chan, I'm not just a fighter you know, I'm also an Inugamitsukai (User of the dog gods power)!"

With that, black dogs appeared from his shadow, materializing from the darkness as they hounded Asuna and quickly disabled her by licking her everywhere.

"Now, it's over." With that, the boy went back to Negi and continued to pummel the poor boy with his fist, sending the child teacher crashing to the rail of the pathway and breaking it. As the boy walked over towards him, his hand glowed once again with ki.

"Now, it's time to finish this!"

It was then that Negi had mustered all the energy he had left, "Activate the contract for point five seconds to Negi Springfield."

His hand, imbued with magical energy, parried the boy's blow who was suddenly surprised. With the same spell as before, Negi began his incantation when he punched the boy on his stomach and sent him upwards.

"Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat (A stream of light, cut through the night, spring forth from my hand and throttle mine enemy)!"

Negi stretched his right arm out as the boy's back landed on it. At point blank range, Negi unleashed his spell, "Fulguratio Albicans (White Lightning)!"

White lightning danced in the air around Negi as it electrocuted the boy head on, the boy shouted in agony as the feeling of a thousand needles being pricked on every part of his body took place. Negi didn't stop his spell as he blasted the magical attack full force, unforgiving of what the boy did to him.

The boy fell down; his muscles in spasms and twitches as he forced himself to stare up at Negi.

"Take that! That is the power of western mages!" Negi exclaimed, as the boy could only stare at him in contempt.

Chibi Setsuna observed the battle very closely, taking note of Negi's ingenuity to come up with a plan on a fly.

Chamo looked relieved as Asuna began fretting over Negi and look over his injuries. Negi had blood dripping from his forehead after all.

"T-This isn't over yet."

To this, the boy forced himself to stand up, his hair growing longer as his upper torso began to bulk up, and fur began to build up as well.

"I admit that this is the first time a human has ever managed to hurt me this badly. You should feel thankful that I'm doing this to you, Negi Springfield!" The boy exclaimed, as he removed his upper clothing or what seemed like the rest of it, as it was tattered the moment he reverted to this form.

"Now begins the REAL battle!" Shouted the boy, he leaned down and was about to charge at Negi until he had heard a voice.

"You got that right!" The voice exclaimed as he suddenly appeared at the boy's side and punched him hard on the face. The wolf boy staggered back from the blow as he said to another person, "Miyazaki, dictate me to where he will strike okay?"

"Sure thing, Konohamaru-sensei!" The newcomer had arrived, it was Nodoka who was holding her book earlier, she looked at the bleeding form of Negi in concern but decided to do that later, she knew what she had to do.

"I normally don't use this technique seeing as I don't like using Doton that much, but I feel I should repay you for that punch you did earlier, Inugami Kotaro. " Konohamaru stated as he then began going through a series of seals and stopped with the seal of the boar. Negi looked relieved at the sudden arrival of Konohamaru; it looked like everything would be fine now.

"Doton: Domu (Earth Release: Earth Spear)"

Konohamaru's skin began to change colour to midnight black, Negi couldn't see the face of the brunette as he stared Kotaro in the eye, who looked mildly surprised.

"How do you know my name?" He asked, to this, the brunette pointed to Nodoka.

"Oh, that? You gave out your name earlier to that girl you bumped with, remember? I saw her on the way here when she asked me if what was happening true. I answered yes and she gave me your name." Konohamaru said as he paused and looked over at the child teacher.

"Good job, Negi. Now sit back and let me do the fighting for now. You've earned your rest."

"Sensei, he's going to your left!" Nodoka exclaimed as Konohamaru simply blocked Kotaro's punch with one arm.

"I told you, punk, I'll repay you from what you did earlier to me." Konohamaru said as he punched Kotaro in the face with his free arm, sending the boy skidding back and crashing beyond the rails of the pathway.

"The moment I was distracted was the moment I lost. Now I've known the feeling, you won't get me off my guard again."

To this, Konohamaru bent his knees down and continued, "This is round two, brat, and this time, I won't be as nice!"

With that, Konohamaru dashed towards the smoke that had been created at full speed, surprising Kotaro who then jumped and landed on a tree branch. Konohamaru crashed into a rock that shattered from his inertia and looked back at the boy who lunged at him, ki overflowing his body.

"He's going for your head, sensei!" Nodoka shouted, to which the brunette reacted immediately with a duck. Konohamaru then gave the boy a vicious uppercut to the feral boy's chin that sent him flying upwards.

Kotaro immediately recovered as he swooped below, Konohamaru dodging once again before turning back.

"Sensei, jump!" Nodoka advised. Konohamaru did so as Kotaro missed his chance for a reverse kick. It was then that Konohamaru's jutsu slowly receded and the brunette's skin colour returned to normal.

"Take a bite out of this, punk!" Konohamaru shouted as he clasped his hands together above his head, and smashed Kotaro's head in like a hammer, forcing him into the ground.

Kotaro instantly recovered, and looked back at the mind reader of the group; he instantly knew the purpose of the tool she was using.

That girl earlier was somehow managing to predict his movements!

He dashed his way towards Nodoka at superhuman speeds, but was suddenly surprised when Konohamaru kept up with him.

"Katon: Nensho Kouken (Fire Release: Burning Tiger Fist)!" Konohamaru yelled; smashing his fire wrapped hand on Kotaro's face sending the boy flying from his target, effectively crashing into one of the stands.

Konohamaru approached the boy calmly and activated another jutsu, this time; he grabbed a kunai and twirled around his index finger getting it caught on fire.

"Now that you've calm down, I want to know how we're going to get out here, Kotaro." Konohamaru stated as he stood tall over Kotaro, who looked like he was on his last legs.

"Like I'm going to tell all of you any of that!" Kotaro exclaimed, to this, Konohamaru grinned and looked over at Nodoka.

"Well, Miyazaki?"

"East of here, the sixth gate, the top and the corners are the weaknesses of these spells." The shy girl said as she pointed to where the said gate was located. Konohamaru grinned at this as he looked at the still hybrid form of Inugami Kotaro.

"Well now, look's like we'll be getting out of this place, pretty soon!"

"You won't escape from here, damn it!" Kotaro shouted, as he got up, he felt whole body was suddenly pulled down, his body had sunk into the earth except for his head.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Skill)"

It was then that the brunette squatted in front of Kotaro and said, "You're the one that won't get out of here, stupid. Enjoy the view for the next three hours."

With that, Konohamaru jumped on the gate as Nodoka was picked up on Negi's staff dashing towards where the seals were located. The ragtag group then smashed the seals on the said location, shattering the magical barrier and breaking the spell.

"Hey! Get back here! When I get out of here I'll…"

Konohamaru simply waved him off, "See ya, dog boy."

With that, the party went out of the place.

As soon as the six were seated down, Konohamaru gave flat look to Chamo. "Chamo, you have better explain to me why Nodoka has a pactio card in her hand."

"W-Well, there was this deal and I had to do it or Aniki's secret would have been exposed to the world! It was a trade off that was a win-win situation! We've made quite a sum of money!" Chamo defended himself, only to expose the fact that he had an accomplice. Konohamaru's eyebrow raised and grabbed the white weasel. He lightly gripped the rat but the ermine found it a bit too choking.

"So you had an accomplice, huh? Mind telling me who it was, Chamo-kun?" He asked. Chamo quickly broke from that stare that the brunette was giving him, "I-It was Asakura-nee-san! She found out Aniki's secret when he saved the cat yesterday!"

He then looked sharply at Negi and asked, "And you knew this?"

Negi nodded rather enthusiastically, or more like he nodded in full affirmation as Nodoka tended to his bloody forehead.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner? So not only did Asakura know yesterday that you were a mage, this little rat here also inadvertently involved a civilian that does not even know magic into your troubles." Konohamaru then looked at Chamo.

"Chamo, you and I will have a long talk after this. Negi, you're in as well."

The brunette then looked at Nodoka and asked, "Miyazaki, are you sure you want to get involved with this? I mean, this is a rather dangerous job you've got yourself into. You can still go back if you want to."

"She's a girl with an unusually strong item! She'll be a great asset to the team!" Chamo commented but was silenced by Asuna. Nodoka looked serious in front of Konohamaru and gave a solemn nod.

Nodoka replied with a smile, "Yes. I'm very sure, back there in the trap… It felt absolutely exciting seeing the things unfold and going to this book. It was such a great experience!"

Konohamaru gave a sigh at this and finally relented. "Fine, we're going. After this letter is delivered, it would soon be over anyway."

Chibi Setsuna nodded, "Just beyond here is the headquarters of the Kansai Magic Association. We should make haste and finish the job."

It was then that Chibi Setsuna started to blur.

"What's wrong, Setsuna?" Asuna asked, suddenly alarmed.

"We're being… Pursued!" She said before being dispelled back into paper.

Alarmed at this, Konohamaru began cursing up a storm.

"Shit! Even if we deliver the letter, it would all be wasted if Konoka is captured!" Konohamaru shouted before he remembered something, Naruto's summoning frog.

"We need to get there fast!" Negi shouted. Konohamaru wanted to stop the red head at first but felt his sides ache for a second there. It seems like the damage done by that mutt boy was clearly still present. He needed to rest. Negi was in no position as well, so they relied on the next best thing, they looked at Chamo who seemed oblivious to the plan that Konohamaru had in mind. Though it wouldn't really put up much of a fight, they would hope it would at least monitor Setsuna's group before giving off a proper response.

He just hoped Naruto-nii would be able to respond properly.

* * *

With Setsuna:

They were running, ever vigilant of their pursuers. Setsuna was kept on guard as she dragged Konoka away from the arcade to somewhere more crowded. She didn't like the tactic of using human shields, but to her, the safety of Konoka came first. Behind her, Haruna and Yue were chasing after them; obviously confused where the hell Setsuna was taking them. The swordswoman couldn't give an answer, she couldn't say, "Hey, a magical assassin is after us, they'll most likely go after Konoka-ojou-sama because of her latent powers, so it's best you guys separate from us to avoid the danger."

That would be stupid, or really unbelievable. So she just had to bear with it for a while longer before they could lose them in the crowd. When she saw the crowd, she did not expect where it led them.

"It's Cinema Town!" Haruna exclaimed rather excitedly.

"You really wanted to go here, Set-chan?" Konoka innocently asked.

Setsuna could only give a nod. It was to keep her safe and she would do anything in her power to do so.

In the midst of their run, they had to stop to let Konoka and the others rest. She was surprised however, when Konoka came back wearing a very beautiful Kimono. She was shoved by her friend as well and her attire changed to a member of the infamous Shinsengumi.

As soon as they lost Yue and Haruna, Setsuna had to make a stop to a corner, to which she grabbed the frog in her pocket and said, "Please do what you must, now! Konoka-sama's life is in danger!"

"Way ahead of ya', samurai girl!" the frog retorted. It then hopped down and began doing the seals, only to be caught by Ayaka's group along with Haruna, Konoka and Yue.

"Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Reverse Summoning Technique)!"

Setsuna paled at this.

After that, a large plume of smoke took over the area, as they heard a voice and it sounded like… Was he rapping?

_Come on, everybody stand up!_

_The best time is today!_

_Move with blinding speed!_

_Don't slow everyone down, yeah!_

_Come on, everybody hands up!_

_Our heroes will come back tomorrow!_

_Countdown the average days!_

_Here we go, 3, 2, 1, make some noise!_

SPLASH!

"Hey, what the hell?" The voice suddenly exclaimed as the smoke cleared and out came Naruto, sitting on a wooden chair and had a ladle on his hand. The blonde teacher only had a towel on to keep his modesty in tact.

The girls were utterly speechless as they stared at the semi-nude form of Naruto who was now standing up and was utterly confused as he looked around the alley. Some were already sporting nosebleeds while the others were drooling.

To this, he stared at Setsuna with his eyebrow twitching, "You have better come up with a good excuse as to why you sent me here, with only my towel on while I was taking a nice refreshing bath."

Setsuna looked flustered, "H-How was I supposed to know you were taking a bath?"

Naruto was about to give a lesson about summoning people while they were indecent when his sharp senses had managed to pick up a small killing intent. Naruto, annoyed more at this, simply applied chakra to the wooden ladle, strengthening it and smashing it on the head before it turned back to paper.

"Ha! Take that! Even a ladle can become a mighty tool for the likes of Uzumaki Naruto! Fear my weapon!" He exclaimed as he gave an obnoxious laugh, almost forgetting the fact that he wasn't wearing any piece of clothing.

"N-Naruto-sensei… You're clothes." Konoka suggested. Naruto's attention went back from his gloating to embarrassment all in the matter of a second. Naruto instantly dashed towards the nearest clothing shop.

"Hey, Kazumi, I want to ask you something." The first to break the silence was Haruna. Kazumi only nodded at this as Haruna asked her the question, "Do they grow THAT big? I mean, when the dust cleared, a little wind blew and I got a glimpse of _it_. I mean, I may have seen most of those in a manga that I usually read but… I didn't know that it could have been real!"

To this, Asakura blushed, "Don't ask me!"

Kazumi looked over at Chizuru who could only stare in utter shock.

"Chizu-nee, are you ok?"

Chizuru could simply not find a word to speak with.

With Naruto:

That reverse summoning sure gave him problems from time to time, the first time it happened, he was about to eat some good Ichiraku ramen only to inadvertently eat worms and termite larvae that Shima-sensei had always cooked for him. It was good, but he couldn't get used to the idea of eating bugs.

Now it was when he was at his most indecent! Seriously, he needed to find a solution for this or next time he was summoned he would be in the middle of having sex which would mean more awkward moments!

As soon as he was in the costume store, he immediately asked the personnel there to give him some ninja attire as it was the closest thing he would need at the moment, the clerk was all too eager to do so for the fact that seeing a grown man with only a towel on was just too disturbing for him. God, he needed a vacation.

The clerk handed to him the costume set and told him to keep it so that at least he wouldn't streak on his way home. The blonde vigorously thanked him as he went to the changing room, before he could enter though, he asked the clerk.

"Got a ninja uniform in orange?"

To this, the clerk gave him a stupid look, "If you want a ninja that wears orange then why not just give them a goddamn white ranger suit while I'm at it? Ninja wearing orange, derp!"

Naruto could have sworn there was an insult there somewhere, he just couldn't place where. Oh well, this will have to do.

As he began suiting up, he noticed that the garb given to him by the clerk was almost identical to the ANBU uniform (black pants that were a bit loose but the sleeveless black undershirt was a bit form fitting) back in Konoha. Only instead of an animal mask, it was a faceless one that only had eyeholes.

He then clipped the white light armour on his torso to his back. A standard Katana was strapped on his back and a pair of black ninja sandals and white arm guards over a black cloth gauntlet. It felt a lot like he was a member of the ANBU corps.

Tying a black cloth around his neck with the two strips of cloth dangling on his back, the blonde got out of the changing room looking perfectly like an assassin should except for the mask.

With that, he dashed outside and jumped on the rooftops.

When he noticed that the girls were standing on one end of the bridge, he instantly dropped down and appeared just behind the girls.

"I'm back!" He shouted, earning a few jolts of surprises at that, seeing the blonde wearing a rather form fitting Ninja garb on his upper torso but that was covered with the white armour over it. To them, Naruto looked like a member of a highly powerful assassination squad.

To this, he looked over at Negi who was wearing a red Obi of a ninja in training complete with the net mesh underneath. He looked at Setsuna then to the one she was looking at. It was that Tsukuyomi girl, still wearing the same theme of her gothic loli appeal.

"Well then, sempai, shall we begin?" The girl asked with a smile, to this, Setsuna stepped forward but not before reassuring her protectorate.

"Don't worry, Konoka-ojou-sama, no matter what happens, I'll protect you." She said those words in both conviction and sincerity. Naruto was the one to cheer this time, "Yeah, you tell her, Setsuna-chan!"

The girls clapped this time as Setsuna said to Negi, "Negi-sensei, please take Konoka-Ojou-sama with you. Please let her be safe. Naruto-sensei, please watch over them."

Negi only nodded and took away Konoka, Naruto followed suit.

Setsuna soon stepped forward on to the wooden bridge.

"Hyakki Yakou (One Hundred Demons' night parade)!" The girl stated, taking out charms from her pockets and spread them in the air. Soon, a large group of Shikigami appeared in existence before them as the girls, except for Setsuna, were immediately assaulted by them.

Setsuna stared at Tsukuyomi in contempt.

"Oh don't worry, they are harmless demons, I just don't want anyone interfering in our battle, is all, Setsuna-sempai." Tsukuyomi said with a smile as Setsuna's scowl deepened drawing out her Nodachi.

"Tsukuyomi…" Setsuna stated as she held the blade sideways close to her face. Tsukuyomi could only stare in wonder as Setsuna then continued, her eyes becoming as sharp as her blade.

"Don't you dare blink for second!" Setsuna warned as she dashed towards Tsukuyomi, both of them entering into a deadly blade dance.

As the two began clashing with their blades and the girls of 3A fending of the demons, Naruto, Negi and Konohamaru were dragging Konoka to somewhere safe.

As they entered into a room and headed upstairs, they were stopped with the same woman that had tried to kidnap Konoka on the first night, only this time, she had someone with her now.

Naruto looked at the apathetic boy and scowled, something was off with that child and he could feel it. As if something about him was sending waves of danger to them. He had to be careful, or one wrong move could lead to Konoka's capture or even worse.

"Welcome, Konoka-ojou-sama… It seems Tsukuyomi had done well in tracking you down."

She sneered at this, she then looked at the other person she had seen earlier, it was that blonde monster that she had feared. Of all the worst case scenarios, that man had to appear in their midst! No matter, she had an ally now, and it would seem the blonde was looking at them with a frown sensing that her guardian was a pretty dangerous one.

She then looked at Negi, "What are you doing here boy? Kotaro should have you trapped."

Her smile deepened further, "I see, this isn't your real body, is it?"

Before she could utter another word, Naruto had already stepped in. grabbed the blade strapped at his back and pointed his sword towards the pair.

"Take a step further and I can't guarantee the safety of any body part I see." Naruto threatened. It looked like he was serious about it. To this, the woman laughed.

"Let me remind you that the 'sword' that you're holding is not authentic, nor will it ever be. It would simply not cut, even my Shikigami."

To this Naruto simply grinned. "That's okay! I don't need a real Katana to cut through your paper dolls anyway."

To this the blonde added, "That's because with wind, I can cut almost anything in here."

To demonstrate his point, the blonde had cut the Tatami matt below him clean without the blade touching the floor.

Outside, Tsukuyomi and Setsuna continued to clash blades fighting on top of the wooden arc bridge as Setsuna dashed on the wooden railings keeping up with Tsukuyomi.

As they both clashed blade with blade, the shout of the tourist drove him out of concentration from the fight.

When she looked as to where the tourists were looking, she saw Negi and Naruto were standing off on the roof with a smoking hole in between them and that charms user they had faced earlier.

She wanted to intervene, but she had to put her faith with the blonde sensei, after all, his power was simply overwhelming to begin with.

The girl had another Shikigami in her side, this time, it was a rather monstrous but brawny looking archer. The charms user looked absolutely calm at this while Naruto still pointed the sword towards them.

"Fire that arrow and I'll make sure you don't have a leg or two after this is over."

To this, the woman grinned defiantly and said, "Try it!"

Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He immediately crouched down and vanished with a silent blur, appearing at the charm user's side. Wind chakra empowering his blade, Naruto swept below intent on taking out a leg, only to be stopped with a hand that seemed to withstand the cutting power of his wind chakra before snapping the fake sword's blade into two.

"I cannot allow you to do that since she is my client." The person that the girl had with her said and tried to punch the blonde only to end up hitting air.

The boy quickly felt the blonde's pressure on his back with his hand holding an orb that looked like it was containing a storm.

"Rasengan!" The blonde shouted, driving the said jutsu straight to the ground as the boy quickly dodged Naruto's technique. The roof below him collapsed as the storm like object spiralled and blasted downwards tearing through clay cement and wood.

The charms user, who had already seen this, fired her arrow straight to a hapless Konoka who looked absolutely confused at this. Negi was far too defenceless for this. So with that, Naruto just like he did earlier vanish from the albino kid's sights as the blonde reappeared in front of Negi and Konoka with his eyes closed and remained standing still as the arrow was going straight at them.

Negi looked in surprise as Naruto's eyelids suddenly became red as he closed his eyes, when the blonde opened them, they revealed yellow irises and not his usual blue, and his pupil seemed to have extended to the side as well. Naruto simply flicked his hand, and with a surprise, shattered the arrow with just that flick.

Negi looked at Naruto and could feel the energy flowing within the blonde so much that it was making everyone around him look on in anticipation.

"Woah, look at that! That ninja just caught and shattered an arrow!"

"What? You weren't impressed when he disappeared in a matter of a second and reappearing just in front of the smaller ninja and the princess?"

"Fuck you guys! You didn't see the fucking technique he did with his hands? That was all sorts of fucking awesome!"

It was then that Naruto literally disappeared from their sights and reappeared in front of the demon and the woman. With his hand outstretched, he punched the demon in a mighty show of force that its chest literally exploded on its back before dispelling into paper.

The tremendous force behind the attack made Chigusa turn pale. There were no premonitions that indicated he would move faster than before; his strength didn't even seem human. As she looked at those yellow eyes that the blonde sported that mere seconds ago were sapphire, she could feel his overwhelming strength while simply staring at her, her knees shook as she fell down on her bum while the blonde stood before her, it didn't help that his figure was overshadowed by the sun's bright rays.

"Holy shit! He tore that monster's chest with a punch! I don't care how manga like it is, but I'm totally going to watch that movie when it comes out!"

"At best I'd think it would be a B-rated movie, not really something to relish in."

"Hey, who said you could be a movie critic? Go watch Brokeback Mountain or something else if you don't think this movie would kick ass, you faggot!"

It was then that the Albino kid appeared beside Chigusa as he whispered to her, "A tactical retreat is beneficial right now, Amagasaki-san."

Naruto tried to stop them but a series of earth spires had popped up in front of him before he could move in. The gentle wind blew as he stood on top of the castle watching the people below bustle around Cinema town; he looked back and saw Konoka lose her footing on the roof as she was about to fall. Naruto instantly disappeared and reappeared on the wall dashing incredibly downwards towards Konoka's descent. Naruto lightly kicked the wall as he bounced of just below Konoka and caught her within his arms.

"And Uzumaki Naruto has once again performed a perfectly timed save!" The blonde shouted as he grinned and gently put Konoka down. Konoka giggled at this and said, "Thank you, Naruto-sensei!"

"No problem! Though, just between you and me, that rap thing I did earlier, it never gets out, okay?"

Konoka seemed confused at this as she didn't remember Naruto ever rapping during their stay in cinema town; she was too busy paying attention to something else.

"Ojou-sama!"

Setsuna had run towards them as Tsukuyomi retreated earlier. It was a relief to see Konoka unharmed. Much more so that Naruto was waving at them.

Setsuna sighed in relief as they finally laughed at this. The Chibi Negi then appeared to their side as he said that they should all meet up. Naruto had to agree.

"Yeah, look. Before you guys go over there, I'll have to look for a change of clothes to more casual. Meet you at the station in couple of minutes!" With that, the blonde ran and disappeared from view.

"Wow, Naruto-sensei is incredibly fast." Konoka mentioned. Setsuna could only nod in affirmation.

A few minutes later, they arrived on the steps leading to the Kansai Magic Association, they saw a few burnt bamboo shoots here and there and a pretty messed up rest stop. The only thing that was active there were the vending machines.

As they headed up, they didn't notice a boy who was sleeping on the ground with only his head present.

As they made their way to the temple, they met up with Asuna and the group who looked surprised and perturbed seeing Haruna, Asakura and Yue with them. This time, it was Asakura was asking Naruto while they were far back.

"Naruto-sensei, could you possibly be a mage like Negi-sensei?"

The blonde shook his head, "No, I'm a ninja from another world."

Asakura looked absolutely stoked at this but then laughed a little, as if the blonde was making light of the situation.

"Hahaha! Real nice, Naruto-sensei, you really can tell a joke. No really? Answer my question."

Naruto looked at her that clearly said he wasn't joking.

"You're kidding." Asakura said in a deadpan and Naruto shook his head.

"As far fetched as that sounds, I really am a ninja from another world. The same goes with Konohamaru; he's my apprentice after all."

Naruto was carrying Negi who could barely walk while Konohamaru was upfront, as he looked absolutely annoyed that they were being followed by two completely oblivious individuals in the world of magic, if this keeps up, roughly the entire class would know Negi as a mage in the middle of the school year.

When they finally reached the temple, they were greeted with a lot of attendants; well more like Konoka was the one to be greeted. The rest of them were mere afterthoughts.

"You know, I never get tired of seeing people greet nobility like that." Naruto commented as he looked around the Sakura laden temple/mansion. He was mighty impressed at it he might add.

While they entered the building inside, it was then that Naruto and Konohamaru sat at back and began talking.

"Care to tell me why you looked so banged up?"

Konohamaru told Naruto what had occurred earlier, with his bout with Kotaro. The blonde looked mildly curious to Konohamaru's statements of the brunette managing to almost detect the boy like he did with chakra; he felt the same when Asuna was imbued with it as well, though it wasn't much compared to the boy's. Was ki a part of a whole that formed chakra? It was a possibility. He had never really thought about it. He didn't have to. The fact that ki users and Magic users were so hard to detect was probably as he stated earlier, a different expression of nature in this world and that he and Konohamaru, were aliens that aren't exposed to the matters that this world represents.

When they had finally been greeted by the leader, they found it as a surprise that it was actually Konoka's father who was the current leader of the Kansai Magic Association. So who was it then, that staged all of these incidents that lead up to this point? It was obvious that the girl earlier had been part of that association, the fact that she could do magic like that was a dead give away that she was part of the Kansai Magic Association. Naruto's scowl deepened further at this as did Konohamaru who could immediately conclude of one thing during the whole trip. There were traitors and defectors from the Kansai Magic Association.

All of that however, would have to be discussed later. As the leader of the Association arranged for a feast that day, Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other and grinned.

It may have been a dangerous trip, but it was well worth it!

That day, Naruto and Konohamaru stuffed themselves with different kinds of food as they ate like vapid bloodhounds. They were ninja after all, and after today's events and the lack of food that had been given to them for the last three days back at the hotel, they were really thankful that this feast was what brought them to full stomachs for the first time since the trip.

To be continued…

* * *

And Chapter Eight is done! Another note would be how much I would put more emphasis on to the next chapter as I know some of you are anticipating the showdown with Sukuna no Kami and Fate. I already have plans on how to deal with them. So now, we get a glimpse of sage mode but it was only for a short while. We won't be seeing it until later chapters too.

Though I have much a dilemma that I need to address. Should Naruto and Konohamaru even obtain a pactio card? Or shouldn't they? I already have an idea on Naruto's pactio as well as Konohamaru's even if they are still undecided. And even if they do manage to obtain one, who will be the one to give them the pactio?

Anyway, expect the next chapter sometime tomorrow or the day after it.


	9. They Might be Giants

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Nine: They Might be Giants

* * *

As soon as the feast began, everyone was on about the events that occurred earlier on, how climactic each and everyone that starred in their roles at Cinema Town. Naruto and Setsuna in particular, were the stars of the discussion that night.

Naruto didn't seem like he minded it, in fact he fully appreciated the attention, boasting about how he once had to act in a movie about a princess in the Land of Snow. Of course, he was careful not to reveal as a ninja and that the movie (or play rather since he didn't want their secret to exposed to Haruna and Yue) that he mentioned was only in his village and that he and his friends were part of the cast.

Konohamaru remembered that one, he remembered seeing the movie that day and honestly, it was really surprising. Naruto even got a kiss from the actress after that who was actually a real princess, he even got a picture! Lucky bastard!

The blonde looked around after, as seeing some of the girls were already hitting the hay, Setsuna and Asuna however, were missing. He shrugged it off as thinking that the samurai girl must be taking Asuna on a tour. He simply let it go and went with Eishun, Negi and Konohamaru on their way to the indoor baths.

"Please take care of Konoka, Negi-sensei, Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei." The older man pleaded, the concern in his voice was ever present.

When they sat down on the hot spring, the quartet began to discuss the events as to why the charm using woman, now identified as Amagasaki Chigusa, acted the way she did. It seemed that she has a deep grudge against western mages, to which Naruto and Konohamaru could compare to lunacy. They even looked at each other and snickered as they thought that the very reason that the woman was after them was because of her xenophobic tendencies.

Of course, they were almost killed for a lot more petty reasons, but this was just too funny to pass up.

Negi was then the one who asked, "Why did they want Konoka-san?"

The father of the said student replied, "She wants a trump card."

"Trump Card?" Negi looked curious at this as Eishun said to him, "Yes… As a member of the Konoe family, Konoka has inherited incredible amounts of magical power that ability lies dormant within her, however. She has a lot of potential, and that power can be said to surpass even the Thousand Master's."

"We sent Konoka to Mahora to keep her safe there and to never reveal this secret to her for her own safety." Eishun continued as Naruto then butted in.

"I disagree that you had to keep it a secret from her without her knowing what's going on." Naruto mentioned, he turned to Eishun and then said with a simple manner, "If she knew the reason why she had to move out of Kyoto, I think it would have been easier for her to accept the fact WHY she had to move. The person who should have the right to this information should have been the one in the center of it, herself."

Naruto found it slightly irritating that they would keep information like this to the one directly involved. He himself was a victim of this, he knew for a fact that if he had known the reason earlier, it would have brought more sense to him as to why he was shunned when he was younger. It was to affirm as to why the villagers had hated him back then. When the truth came out, it was the most shocking thing he had ever felt, it was worse when the person that said that secret to him was a traitor that was out there to kill him just because he contained a malevolent beast.

"Although I can understand why you would keep it a secret, it was to protect her. Understandable? Yes; Stupid? Also a yes…" Naruto commented, to Eishun replied with a chuckle.

"You seem quite well versed at this kind of thing, Naruto-sensei, am I to assume that you experienced something of the sort as the same with my daughter?" The middle aged man asked. Naruto simply answered,

"In a manner of speaking, yeah, I did. At first I couldn't understand why, but as the answer was laid out in front of me for the first time, I was shocked to say the least. I had to suffer a few days to understand why someone who I looked up to would do it to me. In the end, when I finally understood, I was both angry and miserable at the same time. Because of that secret, I had to do a lot catching up with my former teacher before I turned into a proper ninja and even then, I still had to master it on the later years of me being sixteen just about a year and a half ago after the Fourth War."

"You participated in a war?" Eishun asked incredulously, both Naruto and Konohamaru nodded. To this, Naruto answered him, "That's right, we were caught in the middle of a great war, and I was in the center of it, or rather, I was the focus of that war because of something I had."

Negi was about to ask when Naruto had cut him off, "I will not talk about it here, Negi as it is, I have no reason to give away why I was the center of that war. That secret is better off with me and not with anybody else especially in this world. If word gets out of what I have, it could mean a lot attention to your academy. And I don't want to deal with people who want it. I've had enough of them."

Naruto then continued, "That is why I think Konoka deserved to learn the truth. If she had been made aware, none of the things right now should be happening. She could even do things herself, instead of being monitored all the time."

It was then that Naruto looked upwards and said, "Anyway, finally telling your daughter about her ability would be helpful. It may upset her, but in the end, she'll understand, just like how I did."

As the topic got serenely, Negi decided to change the topic when he asked about the Thousand Master.

"Your father? Yes, I know him well." Eishun chuckled as he looked at Negi with that smile.

"That idiot, the Thousand Master, we were inseparable friends." Eishun answered. Naruto grinned at this.

Negi looked amazed at Eishun's declaration; someone had apparently had very good relations with his father. Perhaps this man knew where his father would be located at.

"I'm telling you, what we saw in Cinema Town was odd no matter how you look at it!"

"It's just CG! CG, I tell you! Nothing special about it!"

"Don't put me on the same level as Konoka-san!"

It was then that the quartet looked at each other and paled, the one that broke the silence around them was Konohamaru.

"Oh, hell no!" The brunette exclaimed as Eishun suggested that they be somewhere else, particularly now.

"What's with me and compromising situations today? Negi, did you infect me with something?" Naruto asked, Negi looked rather down at that as all four of them wadded through the waters looking for some place to hide, "I'm sorry, nii-san…"

"Oh please, don't you apologize to him about something so stupid. He's just a really unlucky bastard that tends to blame other people for his misfortunes." Konohamaru retorted in a deadpan manner as Naruto pointed a finger at the brunette.

"Shut the hell up, apprentice! You are not allowed to speak to your master that way!"

Konohamaru retorted with no guilt from it, "If you got away with it on Jiraiya-sama, I can get away with it as well!"

The two had once again started to bicker like siblings as they began giving off snarky comments to one another. In particular, Naruto argued how much a short stuff was to Konohamaru and how he can never expect to reach to his 'size'. What he meant by that, the others will never know. But it was clear that it triggered a series of insults from Konohamaru that seemed defensive on his end.

The two never even noticed that they were being looked at by the girls and that Negi was accidentally groping Asuna.

The two were too focused on their argument that it took a splash of water from Yue who had told them to get out of the baths. The two complied with a mere nod and snuck away with their towels still on. For some reason, they missed out on something really important again.

Once they got dressed in their respective casual wears, Naruto began formulating another seal in his notebook.

"Is your doodling really that important in Fuinjutsu, Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru asked, Naruto looked at him, nodded and went back to his notebook again. Negi seemed interested in this, "Yep, it helps me maintain my stroking exercises with practicing it on letters, which is why I'm pretty damn good with our language. Though, my master did it in a different way that was both productive to him as it was a sick hobby."

To this Naruto thought about his teacher who giggled perversely. He remembered Jiraiya like he had thought about his grandfather; it was both annoying and endearing actually.

When Negi noticed the blonde's melancholic smile, he was almost compelled to ask until Naruto said to him, "Negi, never forget to treasure the people that mean to you in your life, you got that?"

Negi didn't know what to say at that. Where on earth did that come from? Was this really the Naruto that he knew? It was so mind wracking that he didn't know what to do whenever he saw the older boy that he now considers a role model, look serious or even sad. Naruto-nii wasn't meant for that kind of look, he was always optimistic and laid back.

When Negi was looking at the boy with concern and curiosity laden in his eyes, he quickly noticed that Konohamaru's shoulders stiffened, as if something had alerted him inside the compound. Unsurprisingly, Negi soon caught wind of something amiss as he saw Naruto halt for a second before flicking his hand, revealing a kunai under his jacket.

The ninja duo noticed a faint level of killing intent, it was there, but it was barely noticeable. It felt like a gentle breeze before going away.

To his left, the child teacher saw Konohamaru eating up a rather large pill.

Curious, Negi asked the brunette, "What is that, Konohamaru-nii-san?"

The brunette gave a reply, "It's a soldier pill. It converts some of my body's stored energy into chakra for a limited period. I normally do this when almost half of my chakra pool is spent and we have an extended mission. Of course, we do this under discretion since it has the side effect of fatigue two to three hours after the pill is consumed. I just hope this thing ends in those precious hours."

As soon as he said that, Naruto took the lead out in front, going through the halls very fast, weaving through them like a machine, looking for any anomalies that had seemed to have invaded their domain.

First though, they had to stop over at the girls' rooms. They unceremoniously slammed the door to the side open, worried about their student.

What they saw shocked them as they looked at the figures of their students.

They were petrified like statues, standing like stones and were taken by surprise, evident upon Asakura and Haruna's faces.

Negi shook for a moment; a feeling of sick nostalgia enters his mind as the voices around him started to fade. It felt like it did back then, where fire raged and consumed those buildings, men and women turned to stone, running for their lives as their faces were petrified with that look of horror and fear, escaping before being turned to stone.

"… Snap out of it, Negi! Chamo said they'll return to normal if the chief is here!"

Negi looked around, he noticed that Konohamaru was holding him by the shoulders and shaking him.

"Damn it, Negi! This is no time to be scared! We've got to find the chief and turn them back to normal!" Konohamaru shouted. Negi could only nod at this as the brunette continued, "Listen to me, what will stop you from getting stronger is your fear manifesting before you. Don't ever let that fear get to you; don't let it take over your life! If you'll let it, you'll never be able to find your dad this way!"

"But I promised I won't run away, I won't ever let my fear take over me." The red head said, to this Naruto was the one to say, "It's a start, but it's nothing compared to facing the very nature that you fear. If you want to fight that fear, then learn how you can face it."

It was then that the red head calmed down, he stood up and grabbed one of his pactio cards in his hands, "Asuna-san, Asuna-san."

"What's Negi doing?" The blonde asked, the one that answered him was the ermine, "It's one of the abilities given to pactio partners, the cards can cause a telepathic link between the Magister Magi and Minister Magi."

"That's pretty handy." Naruto commented when Negi then called out his staff. As they rounded into a corner, it was then that Konohamaru had grabbed Negi from the shoulder and slammed him to a wall, Negi looked surprised at this as Naruto appeared in front of them with a kunai in hand, deflecting the blade that sprouted forth, to this, the blonde asked, "Setsuna-chan?"

"Naruto-sensei… Did you feel that presence just now?" Asked the samurai girl, Naruto shook his head, "No, but I felt a faint killing intent coming out when we were walking back. We checked the girls in their room but they were petrified well, I didn't see Yue-chan there anyway. Konoka is probably with Asuna right now."

It was then that Eishun made his appearance, struggling to even move.

"Setsuna-kun, Negi-kun… I'm sorry; it seemed I had too much faith in the barrier that protects this temple. Because it's always so peaceful around here, I was caught off guard and they got me, I tried to resist but… For a friend of the Thousand Master… How pathetic. That mage that I fought before, the one with white hair… Be wary of him, he's on another level."

To this, Negi, and the rest noticed that the chief's body was slowly being petrified. The man struggled as he said to the quartet, "Please protect my daughter…" Before he was consumed by the spell.

"Let's go…" Setsuna mentioned, as she ran towards the baths and never looked back. Naruto and the rest nodded and made their way there as well.

When they entered the baths, they saw Asuna lying on the floor, naked and shivering.

"So many… Hands…" The girl mumbled as she tried to get up.

"D-Don't tell me that they did something… Perverted to you! That's terrible!" Setsuna immediately assumed, Naruto and Konohamaru looked at each other and said at the same time, "I'm going to kill that person."

"NO! I wasn't THAT violated!" Asuna vehemently denied any of the situations playing in the heads of those who understood what Setsuna said.

"I-I'm sorry Setsuna, they took Konoka. Be careful, he might still be around."

It was then that the ninja duo had managed to feel the radiating killing intent inside the bath house. They turned around and they saw the same white haired boy back in cinema village. He floated just a ways behind them as Setsuna's hand automatically flicked for a parry of his hand, in response, the boy let out a punch straight to her gut. Setsuna tried to block his attack but then felt a powerful push as she was sent flying across the room. In immediate response, Konohamaru had ducked and went for a burning punch on the boy's stomach and Naruto appearing above with a Rasengan in hand. The boy quickly jumped back and watched as Konohamaru went past him and Naruto hitting the waters below and the water rose as high as ten feet from the force as it rippled to the water underneath and sending a mighty torrent of water everywhere around him creating a mist that permeated around the pool. As the mist cleared they saw Naruto who was only glaring at the white haired boy with deep constraint.

Negi quickly aimed his staff to the boy and shouted, "What did you do to Konoka-san?"

When the boy didn't reply, it just irritated Negi more, "You turned everyone to stone, you took away Konoka-san and you even did perverted things to Asuna-san…"

"That's not what exactly happened!" Asuna shouted with much indignation.

"As a teacher and a friend, I will never forgive you!" Negi then began his incantation and shouted, "Sagitta Magica Serius Fragterius!"

The boy simply stood there as he watched the seventeen streaks of lightning charged their way towards him in different directions. His hands still in his pockets, he watched as the magical barrages scattered about when it was so close to him, the projectiles clustered and hit multiple targets as Negi stood there, surprised.

"This level of magic… Is nothing more than parlour tricks. Do you intend to defeat me, Negi Springfield? It is highly unlikely that it will ever come to fruition. You are better of not trying. You can never defeat me." The boy then looked over at Naruto and Konohamaru.

"You two, are far more dangerous than I have thought. I must inform my client that we should avoid you at all costs."

It was then that the water beneath the boy began surging up and surrounded him, before giving off a veritable dripping sound and vanishing into the puddle below.

Chamo leaned closer to the water in a careful manner, alert if the boy's presence was still around; he examined it and said, "Water as a medium… This is a very powerful teleportation spell. That's some high level magic he has there."

Naruto inwardly cursed as he said to everyone present and accounted for, "Stand clear, this is a search and rescue operation, we're going to save Konoka and everyone if it's the last thing we do!"

Naruto's hands then flicked to a familiar middle index cross seal.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Mass Shadow Clone Replication)"

As soon as he said that, fifty clones had popped into existence as the original said to them, "Search the area in this place! I want Konoka found. If any of you see her, dispel immediately and don't engage the enemy! Got it?"

The impressive number of clones nodded and headed out, in every which way, intent on finding the kidnapped heiress. Setsuna stared in shock as Negi stood there amazed by Naruto's miniature army composed of himself.

"You okay, Sakurazaki?" Konohamaru asked, walking over to the swordswoman who only nodded.

"On Konoka-ojou-sama's safety, this mere bruise is nothing!" She declared standing up with her own sword as support.

"You could even barely walk, please calm down and have me heal it." Negi said and Setsuna did just that, revealing her bruised torso, Negi did as he said he would.

"Thank you, but we must hurry, because if we don't, Konoka-ojou-sama would…"

"I say we talk about this more, we can't just recklessly charge there without a plan, that kid didn't even do any kind of magic for offense!" Chamo insisted, and then thought up of an idea for a pactio between Setsuna and Negi, needless to say, the white ermine's face was slammed on the ceramic tiles while Negi had made a call for the academy requesting back up.

It was then that Naruto had announced that his clones have located Konoka along with a familiar face.

Outside:

"Wow, good job new guy, though I have to wonder how you got to bypass the magic barrier. We should have left it to you from the start! Well, doesn't matter now, though, the only thing we need to do now is to go to that place where the altar-"

"Really? And where is that?" Naruto asked as he was instantly on her side, his arms crossed and overlapped each other as he questioned the girl with a grin.

Surprised and scared at the same time, Chigusa jumped back as Naruto was about to make a grab towards Konoka. Fate made his move and appeared before him, giving an uppercut that almost hit his chin when he leaned back. Naruto grabbed the arm as he tossed the boy above his head and began collecting wind chakra around himself. The dusts around him began to pick up and encircle him like it did when Chigusa first saw it. Naruto squatted and jumped towards the boy at blinding speed. Once he appeared right before the white haired boy, Naruto's hand leaned back and aimed to punch him in midair. The boy simply leaned to the side as the blonde completely missed him. Naruto landed on the water and stood completely still.

Setsuna and Asuna stared in surprise and awe as Naruto remained stationary upon the surface of the water.

"I seem to have underestimated their speed. But not to worry, you go there to the altar and I'll handle him." Said the boy, Naruto then smirked at this, "You want to face the **ME**, kid? Are you sure you can even handle MY abilities?"

"I don't need to be sure… I already know." The boy said before skidding on the water and dashing towards the blonde. Naruto with kunai in hand, performed a single ram seal and concentrated his chakra on the kunai, the knife gave a small faint glow of ethereal blue as the boy got close to him within striking range. Naruto instantly attacked with a swipe of his chakra enhanced kunai horizontally at the boy. The white haired kid jumped and rolled in mid air. His feet extending, he tried to give an axle kick to Naruto's head who circled around, completely missing his head, and giving a solid straight kick to the boy's gut sending him flying towards the shrubbery ahead with Naruto following suit.

When Chigusa had seen this, she smirked and left the scene, only to be met with the quartet who looked like they were ready to beat her down.

"I'm sorry; I can't let you go any further! Give us back Konoka-san!" Negi exclaimed, the woman simply sneered at this and said, "Persistent little bunch, aren't we?"

Chigusa then began chanting as she descended into the waters below, Konoka floating horizontally in front of her.

Multiple lights then glowed just beneath the calm waters as literally hundreds of demons had appeared before them.

"But I don't have the time to face any of you. Therefore, I'll let you all play with these demons for now."

The demons surrounded the quartet as they stood back to back with each other; Negi had immediately cast a barrier to think up of a strategy.

Konohamaru looked around as the four plus the ermine began a new strategy on how to get Konoka as quick as possible, Setsuna suggested they split up.

"I will stay here and deal with them, you three go after Chigusa and save Ojou-sama." The samurai girl mentioned. Konohamaru shook his head.

"With these many summons getting in our way, we'd have to split them evenly. We need someone to back up Setsuna. I'll be the one to…" This time it was Asuna who rejected that idea

"No. I'll be the one to stay and watch Setsuna's back. You're needed there more than I am, Konohamaru. And Naruto is keeping that creepy kid busy for a while. Go there while we still have time!"

As the barrier of wind began slowing down, Chamo once again suggested the pactio. Konohamaru didn't think it was appropriate. That face that Chamo had on wasn't helping. Though, in the end, Setsuna agreed to make a Pactio with Negi. It didn't mean that Konohamaru agreed to it as well.

When the barrier died down, Negi unleashed a powerful wind spell that took out at least twenty of the demons around them, Negi was on his staff and riding towards where Konoka might be, with Konohamaru standing on the tail end of the magic staff.

With that, Setsuna and Asuna ran towards the horde of demons and monsters, their weapons drawn.

Naruto vs Fate:

It was such a display of both brutality and wonder as Fate kept sprouting up spires of earth just beneath the blonde, who countered with a simple Kawarimi or going as far as to use his minor Hiraishin to close the distance between him and that stoic prick that had his hands in his pockets for a long time.

Naruto then used another Hiraishin and went through a spire as he dashed towards the boy with his fists drawn.

"You're mine, bitch!" Naruto shouted in complete declaration as he headed towards the boy at top speed with his kunai infused with wind chakra, he slashed at the boy once again, this time; it was a vertical strike, the boy simply sidestepped and went for Naruto's cheek with a punch, to which he was stopped when he felt a hand stopping him from hitting his face, the boy looked passively to his left and saw another blonde appearing before him, holding his hand and saw Naruto gathering energy on his right palm, spinning it randomly and re-attaining its shape, Naruto made the shell of thin chakra just outside the spinning force as he shouted, "Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere)!"

The effect of the technique was instantaneous as the boy was sent spinning away from him and hitting a rock wall from behind him. It shattered under the force of the technique as the rubble fell on him leaving the boy quite harmed.

The boy got up, as blood dripped from his forehead, he looked at it and looked at Naruto murderously, "This is the first time someone actually made me bleed. Granted if I hadn't placed a barrier on me, I would have probably died from that attack."

The boy said as he got out of the rubble, looking as if not even a bone in his body was shattered. The boy then turned back to Naruto who didn't have any decency to reply back to the boy, as he was not interested in it right now.

The boy then floated down from the pile of rubble underneath him as he said, "Not bad for a man that doesn't even have any indication of magic in him." The man said as he then said, "Now you're just making me even more curious."

With that, the boy reappeared behind Naruto with a spell already drawn. A large pillar of earth erupted on the back as he touched the ground and throttled Naruto on the back. The boy watched as Naruto sailed from one place to another only turning into a log tapped with countless paper bombs. The bombs ignited as the boy checked closer to the site of Naruto that he thought he had defeated, when the smoke cleared and revealed a log with a fire based explosive, the boy quickly jumped back as the explosion rattled across the area, causing a massive fire storm that had a cloud of black smoke escape upwards.

Fate looked disoriented for a few seconds there as the force of the explosion left a ringing sensation in his ear, he could feel the heat radiated from the fires that those weird bombs gave. Was the man he is facing right now a seals expert? It was impossible, sealing techniques take up way too much time to be learned, that was why a typical seals master was an old man and not a teenager. He had not expected this; he had not expected someone strong enough that it would make him bleed. He needed more time, more time to conceal his abilities, and if this man saw them this early on, he doubted he would ever defeat that blonde after this. He jumped once more when Naruto was the one to be on the offensive this time, the blonde gave a flurry of punches and kicks that were faster than the naked eye could see. He could still evade them but there were times that the blonde manages to scrape one thing or two. Naruto's attacks were so powerful and fast that Fate's hands were smoking from blocking them. When Fate had managed to duck from Naruto's punch, he didn't notice a clone had popped into existence just above him as the original gave a knee strike straight to the boy's face.

His cheek was hit, and so rattled was he, that he flinched and was sent flying upwards towards the clone that Naruto had earlier, the clone kicked him on the stomach that sent him skidding on to the ground and hitting a rather large boulder.

When Fate stood up, he saw Naruto suddenly appearing to his side and punching him in the face that sent him flying across the area.

The boy hit a tree and slant down for a few seconds, blood dripping from his mouth and forehead. The boy now stood up and said to Naruto, "You're good, I'll have to say that, and I could tell that you're still holding back. No matter, I only came here to satisfy my curiosity of the young Springfield, though you are a bonus in this as well."

The boy then sensed the coming of danger in his client. With a frown, he said to the blonde. "I believe this where we part ways. It seems my protectorate is left vulnerable at her task and I am curious as to how young Springfield will actually do in battle."

With that, the boy began turning into a puddle once more before he was swallowed by the water below.

Naruto inwardly cursed as he looks at the giant ray of light that had been appearing earlier. The blonde scowled at this before going there as fast as he can.

Negi and Konohamaru:

It was a very tough decision to leave those two behind one hundred and fifty strong demons in their paths. Konohamaru understood the danger of the situation, and he knew better than anyone else that fighting those mooks would have been less time consuming if he was there, but he remembered that the one who can spawn those things can summon more of them with Negi all by his lonesome. So he had no other choice but to join the boy as Asuna proved her point more valid right now. It was surprising, really.

As they made their way towards the large beam of light, they were rattled and shot down by a projectile in the form of a dog. Both of them descended to the ground fast, but Negi recovered with his staff while Konohamaru activated his Doton: Domu as he crashed on the ground that created a rather large crater underneath him.

When they landed, they were met with the dog boy, Kotaro, who looked like he was ready to fight again.

"Heh, I need to repay you guys for what you did earlier! Especially you, Negi! From now on, we're considered rivals!" Kotaro exclaimed as Konohamaru stood between him and Negi.

"You go ahead, Negi, I'm taking care of this one." The brunette said as Negi nodded. The redhead had full confidence in Konohamaru's abilities and the brunette looked like he was still ready for more.

Once Negi was out of sight, Konohamaru bit his thumb and said to the Kotaro, "I don't have time messing with you, so I'll just make this quick."

Konohamaru then performed five handseals as Kotaro chased after him, evading his attacks and trying to prevent Kotaro from stopping him to perform the summoning. When he finally got to the seal of the ram, Konohamaru rammed his left elbow into Kotaro's gut and slammed his open right hand on his face.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Konohamaru gave a shout as he the smoke escaped from his person, Kotaro was sent flying back, as Konohamaru now stood just in front of a giant white monkey with a long mane and wearing a tiger skin tunic.

"Enma-Daioh." Konohamaru mentioned as he said to Enma, "Enma-sama, let's double team this guy and deal with this as soon as possible!"

The giant monkey complied at the brunette's request. "Do you remember what I have told you, young Sarutobi?"

"Yes, sir!" Konohamaru replied and went to a new stance. It was a stance that his grandfather often used when fighting hand to hand. Konohamaru raised his right hand just before his face and clenched it; he placed his left arm just at the side of his waist and spread his legs further. With a flow of chakra into his right hand, it gave an ephemeral glow as the giant monkey did the same. Both of them performed a wheelbarrow at the same time and jumped in midair, rolling forward and landed on Kotaro's position with their left leg extended. The ground beneath them shattered as they stomped it further with their right foot as the dog demon watch in confusion when the blue energy shifted from his hand to foot and then back to his hands again.

The dog boy quickly unleashed his familiars once again and attacked ferociously at both Konohamaru and Enma who seemed to dance and perform acrobatics and all around. His attack missing them completely, Kotaro gritted his teeth as he once again tried to perform a transformation to increase his fighting abilities. He was interrupted however, when the giant monkey had appeared before him and grabbed him by his tail. Konohamaru, just as in synch with the giant ape, appeared just above Enma and while Kotaro was in mid air, Konohamaru quickly delivered a straight drop kick on Kotaro's chest that sent him hurtling away from the brunette. The giant monkey then punched the ground and a fissure quickly formed underneath him, shattering the earth below and flipped the ground in front of him and formed a giant square block. Konohamaru appeared just in front and punched it as many times as he can before landing and sending a massive landslide towards Kotaro who slammed his hands on the ground and performed another set of his familiars to intercepts the rocks for him.

"That is just unfair, aniki! Two against one isn't exactly a fight!"

It was then that Konohamaru had instantly _moved_ in front of him, with his hand formed into a punch, Kotaro quickly countered by applying his ki all around his body and was about to punch Konohamaru when they were intercepted by a rather large shuriken.

Konohamaru looked at the familiar sign and grinned. Help has arrived.

"Konohamaru-sensei, please go ahead and help Negi-sensei, de gozaru."

It was then that Kaede appeared with Yue in her hands. Konohamaru simply nodded and went away, his summon following closely behind.

"It's good to recognize Negi-bozu as a rival, Kotaro, was it, de gozaru?" Kaede mentioned as she began splitting up to twelve copies of herself.

"But compared to Negi-bozu, I'm still much, much stronger right now. Koga Chuunin, Kaede Nagase, de gozaru."

It was then that Kotaro's astonishment turned into a grin.

Negi:

He didn't know what had happened; he just felt that there was a need to dodge that last minute. He had and he was happy that he did, that boy had managed to jump over to where he was and slip past Naruto-nii's watch. Chamo said to him it was because of his teleportation ability and the water that surrounds the altar that was now covered in light. But before he could get to the altar, he first has to overcome this obstacle that stood in his way, and he was running out of magical energy as well.

The ray of light cast upon a menacing shadow of the opponent that lay before him, his dark blue eyes stared at the red head with neither malice nor killing intent. It was just there, as if it was a black pit of darkness, an endless void. He had tried everything to have bypassed his defence earlier, but none of them worked, when he had executed that timed spell and bound Fate, it was then that the most improbable thing had happened.

The light instantly died down, as a monstrous figure took form of above twenty stories high, the monster had four arms and two faces one at front and one at back, it looked like it had a mask on as it seemed white as it gave a loud and earthshaking roar all around it.

"That thing is huge!" Chamo commented as Negi stared at it in complete shock.

"Two faced, four-armed giant demon, Ryoumen Sukuna no Kami."

It was then that Negi snapped out of his thoughts, thinking about the moment Naruto reminded him about facing his fears.

"You have to know how you'll face your fears." Negi muttered to himself as he began his spell, "O spirits of the wind, gather unto me! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens (Jupiter's Storm of Thunder)!"

The spell of wind and lightning shot forth in a display of a straight line as the gusts of wind escaped from his person, as the spell hit the monster that stood before him, the spell seemed ineffective, as not much of a scratch had appeared from the attack. It was then that Negi collapsed on his knees, feeling the drain of using so much magic that day.

Chigusa clearly looked like she was gloating at this, "Is that all there is to it, son of the Thousand Master? It's as if it had no effect! With Konoka-Ojou-sama's power, nothing can stop me now, and I'll crush all your reinforcements too when they get here by tomorrow!"

"Fat chance of that happening, bitch!" Shouted the voice, it was then that Naruto had appeared just on the surface of the lake, standing tall and looked like he had not even had a scratch on him.

"Before you can even set foot outside of this lake, I'm making sure that weak ass summon drowns here!" With that Naruto bit his thumb, blood coming forth and oozing as he performed five handseals, similar to what Konohamaru had done earlier.

"Naruto-nii, what are you doing?" Negi asked as Naruto slammed his hands on the water with a shout.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

In a large plume of smoke, Naruto with his arms crossed, now stood atop of something big, red and had a smoking pipe in its mouth. The blonde looked like he was looking absolutely pissed right now as he said to the woman that now stood below him staring up at him, scared and almost pale, to her front laid Konoka that was unconscious.

"Get ready to beg for your life, because by the time this is over, you'll be wishing that you were left dead!"

But Chigusa looked like she swallowed her fear for a moment and looked undeterred.

"Heh… What would a stupid summon do to a demon god, anyway?"

Naruto chuckled inwardly at this as he said to no one in particular, "Hear that, Oyabun? He's underestimating the power of the Toads!"

"**Looks like I'm going to have to teach that sk****ank over there the price of disrespecting a summoned toad's pride!"**

As the smoke cleared, they saw a giant toad, wearing a blue Haori and a Tanto on its back; it gave off a huge plume of smoke from its mouth as it exhaled the whiff of the tobacco towards the demon god, who seemed irritated at it. Everyone stared in awe and amazement, as the size of the toad was comparable or even bigger than the claimed demon god in front of it.

"**Not only does it look like a straw, it's got the mind of one as well.**** Naruto, when this over, Kashira wants a talk with you about the seal design you have. You're going to have to summon him to have him talk to you."**

Naruto didn't mind it at all and only gave a simple nod.

It was then that Gamabunta had unsheathed the tanto strapped on its back and held in reverse grip as he said, **"Doesn't look like much of a challenge but I need the exercise."**

"Oyabun, be careful to not slash the right shoulder, he has one of my students there, at best, you need to disable that thing while I swoop in and take my student of that bitch's grasp."

Gamabunta nodded, Naruto then applied chakra to his feet, sticking close to Gamabunta as best as possible.

"**It's just like how we fought the one tailed Shukaku back then." **Gamabunta seemed to reminisce and remembered how Naruto ended that fight with a single headbutt.

"Let's go!"

With Asuna and Setsuna:

When the reinforcements came, they were so glad to finally be relieved from all of those hordes of demons that fought them, who knew Mana was so good with a riffle?

Anyway, when they were about to head out towards where Negi was, they were instantly summoned via the cards that he had, and out came Asuna and Setsuna in front of him, as they stared of at the neutral face of the white haired boy and the giant demon that laid out in front of the altar, from their end, they saw Naruto standing on a giant frog that was smoking on a pipe and standing still on the surface of the water.

"I see… I guess it's time then." Setsuna said, looking up at the form of the demon god that had Konoka on its shoulders, unconscious.

"Negi-sensei, Asuna-san, I have something to tell you I have kept this secret from you for long enough, once you've seen my true form, it's time I say my farewells."

A giant frog then landed near their side sending ripples and waves, slightly shaking their side of the altar. The demon god felt one of its arms sting and noticed it had a very small cut. It looked back at the red frog that held its tanto sideways while still holding that pipe in its mouth. It growled and went towards them.

Setsuna then glowed in pure white light before unleashing a pair of white wings on her backs, "This is what I truly look like. I'm a monster just like them…"

"Shut the hell up!"

Naruto looked over to her with scorn in his eyes as he said, "If you could live your life the way you are now, then should I call you a monster just because you're different?"

"But…"

"You've got no excuses, damn it! Why do you think Konoka was willing to have you around? Why do you think that we would care what you looked like? Is that what you think of us, Setsuna? Are we shallow people that can't see past prejudices? You're wrong! I've got half a mind to smash my fist down your head for even putting ideas into mine!" Naruto shouted as he jumped down and let Gamabunta take all the action. The toad jumped off and faced the demon god once more, making another simple cut in one of its arms

"Naruto-sensei…"

"To accept people for who they are, not for what they contain or what they look like… That is the true nature of NAKAMA! Friendship! I don't care if you were the ugliest mofo on this planet! What matters is that you became our friend! Do you think Konoka would reject you just because of your wings? Then don't consider yourself as her friend if you think so lowly of her own opinions! We've come this far to save her and you're going to leave her after this? Then was the friendship that you shared with her a lie then?" Naruto asked and pointed his index finger straight at the samurai girl.

Setsuna was silent as he looked at Naruto who was scowling at her; she then looked down and clenched her hands into fists as she shouted to Naruto, "No, I won't ever consider the time I had with Kono-chan a lie!"

She continued once more shouting with every fibre of her being, "I'll always consider her the first friend that I will cherish!"

Flashbacks of her childhood came as she and Konoka first met, Setsuna slightly gave a smile before letting a small sliver of tear fall from her right eye.

"Then do you have to leave her side?" Naruto questioned the girl, Setsuna looked at Naruto in a moment of silence before the silver haired boy approached them, Naruto looked at the boy as his eyes turned to blood red crimson for a moment with his pupils turning into slits and saying to the boy, "Take a step further and I will make sure, there's not a speck of your existence left for people to mourn about."

Fate stood there unmoving as he felt the undiluted terror that Naruto had shown for once. The blonde never threatened the life of anyone, but for this, he can make an exception if need be just like what he did to Madara.

"I don't have to leave her side…" Setsuna muttered, Naruto then turned to her and he asked further, "What was that, Setsuna? I can't hear you!"

"I said I don't want to leave her side!" She shouted, Naruto then grinned. The blonde teacher then held out his hand to Setsuna and said, "Come on, we're going to save Konoka."

Setsuna nodded once as she dried up her tears, she let Naruto take her by the hand and both of them vanished from their sight with not a single plume of smoke.

When Gamabunta landed near their area once more, the big red toad jumped felt a two pairs of feet landing on his head, his yellow eyes looked up and saw Naruto holding on a girl's hand. The toad grinned at this as the blonde said, "Change of plans, Oyabun, we're going all out. My student here will be the one to save the girl."

About time, that straw looking creature with two faces and four arms had a thick layer of skin for his tanto to cut through. If this kept up, his Tanto wouldn't even cut through anything anymore.

The giant toad examined the girl with his pair of yellow eyes and complimented her, **"Nice pair of wings you got there, kid. Can you make good use of it?"**

The girl simply nodded, Naruto grinned at this and stood still. The blonde closed his eyes and felt the nature energy take course into his very being. The feel of nature energy rushing through Naruto's system like a tsunami washing on shore became even more potent. Setsuna had once more stared at her sensei in awe as she felt the sudden power jump that Naruto did. Setsuna could only ask herself if this is what it feels like to have a Kage Level shinobi in your midst.

A few seconds later, Naruto's eyelids changed from its usual tan colour to red, his irises became yellow as the pupil dilated sideways from the nature energy that he accumulated.

"**Sage mode? That's overkill, brat."**

"Not really, I'm just using this as leverage." Naruto replied, the chief toad chuckled at this as it then hopped towards the giant demon god.

"**Suiton: Teppo Dama (Water Release: Gun Bullet)!" **

Gamabunta then began churning out large balls of water that the demon god who blocked with his arms. The chief toad then jumped to the side and aimed at its most vulnerable state, its neck was fully exposed to the toad chief.

As the toad leaped towards it with his Tanto drawn once again, Gamabunta went for a straight slash towards his neck, only to be stopped when one of its arms moved sideways almost hitting him across the face. The giant toad leaped back and then unleashed jumped up, above the demon god this time as he unleashed another set of water globes heading straight towards the demon god the blocked them.

Down below, Chigusa look on in surprise as she saw a gigantic toad in mid air just in front of the crescent moon that night.

At that exact moment, Naruto had already leapt high above Gamabunta's head, with Setsuna holding his hand and spinning around in mid air like a mad top.

With Negi at the same time:

As soon as Naruto left them to face Sukuna, Negi and Asuna were left with the mysterious boy that had been bleeding from the forehead earlier. It was then that Evangeline had talked to them once more and that she'll help for a stipulation. They had to last for about two minutes against this person if they wanted her to finish the fight for them.

He was already out of magic when helped arrived in the form of Konohamaru and his summon Enma who had unexpectedly jumped in between them. Konohamaru had already finished his configuration of the technique he had in mind.

"Katon: Karyudan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile)!" The brunette shouted as two strips of flames escaped from his mouth in the form of dragon heads as the boy stood and watch as the dragon seem to dissipate from the barrier he had reinforced earlier from his fight with that blonde teen.

"Can you guys still fight? I'm about as revved up as Naruto-nii! Let's take these assholes down!" Konohamaru mentioned as Negi stood up, holding his staff with both his hands; he aimed the tip of his weapon towards the grey haired boy. Asuna held her fan like she would with a sword and stood side by side with Konohamaru, who wordlessly stretched his hand to his side as Enma transformed into a staff once more.

"Kongo Nyoi (Adamantine Staff)!" Konohamaru shouted as he then said to Negi and Asuna, "I'll be the one heading first, Asuna, follow me." With that, Konohamaru applied chakra to his feet and dashed towards Fate in a blur, Asuna following behind, trying to keep up as Negi began invoking his spell.

Konohamaru appeared in mid-air, above the boy as he stomped the wooden floor below, splintering it from the force of his attack. The boy dodged this and went for an uppercut straight to the brunette. Konohamaru, still in mid-air, used his staff as a pivot and swung around trying to kick the boy across the face. The boy simply ducked under the blow and stepped forward as the brunette spun on the ground, flaring before going standing up, his staff held at his back with his left hand.

The boy then felt a presence on his back as Asuna jumped over the boy and tried to drive the giant fan over the boy's ahead only for him to dodge effortlessly and grabbed her ankle, slamming her on to the wooden floor, causing the wood to splinter. Konohamaru then joined the fray, one tip of his staff crackling with electricity this time.

"Raiton: Raidensou (Lightning Release: Spear of Thunder and Lightning)!" The brunette shouted, as he spun the electrified staff around and began thrusting it towards the boy who moved from dodged left and right, Konohamaru kept the pressure up as he continued thrusting the electrified staff at Fate who kept dodging them.

When the boy was cornered to a stone, Konohamaru took this chance and thrusts the staff into him, the boy narrowly dodged the attack as it pierced the stone behind him, crumbling before Konohamaru's technique. As the stone fell on to the wooden floor below, Konohamaru suddenly noticed that the boy was on his side immediately and he was sent flying with his face being met with a kick. Konohamaru skidded on to the wooden floor entrenching himself in splintered wood and finally stopping just before where Asuna laid back then, the girl had already gotten up when the boy had leapt on to them in a matter of seconds, going past Asuna's attacks and smashing her with a punch to her gut. Negi then unleashed a volley of wind arrows to bind him. Fate instantly moved over to Negi who was surprised before the boy delivered a powerful kick to his stomach that sent the child teacher flying. Fate stretched his hand upwards as light gathered into it.

"Basilisk, Lizard with Eight Legs and Evil Eyes! Light Placed into My Hand, Shoot Forth the Evil Look! Evil Gaze of Petrification!"

He then threw the spell towards Negi as Asuna protected the child teacher from the boy's magic. Her sweater completely turned to stone as it slowly disintegrated from her body. Fate quickly took note that the girl before her cancelled out the magic that was intended for a person, he was about to dash towards them once more when he noticed Konohamaru had removed his head band, revealing the golden, tiara like crown that was on his forehead.

Konohamaru hadn't expected for this predicament in their trip earlier on, this boy was powerful, of that he can't doubt. But he can't allow these people to let them do as they please any longer. Now that he had the power to protect the people that he cares for and the ability to somehow get closer to the top with Naruto-nii. With this, he could at least go faster than this bastard and react faster in time.

With a small click on his forehead, the accessory that tied around it loosened as it fell from Konohamaru's head. To everyone, there was complete silence as if there was something monumental that may happen, when the jewel fell on to the ground with a resounding tap, all eyes were focused on Konohamaru who had been leaking out chakra throughout his hands, feet, and forehead, flickering like light blue flames.

"Senkakusha no Nehan (Nirvana of the Enlightened One)"

With that, Konohamaru began twirling his staff as he dashed towards Fate at a monumental rate. When the boy saw this near instantaneous movement, Fate quickly dodged to his right and saw the wooden floor to where he stood on, literally exploded and collapsed from Konohamaru's attack.

The brunette wasn't done yet when Konohamaru began to put pressure on to his game once more and extended his staff this time, shooting like a rocket. Fate managed to jump over it and landed on the pole as he charged towards the brunette. It was then that Konohamaru had a clone of himself, intercepting him with a straight punch. Fate managed to jump in time when Asuna had appeared before him, her fan reeled back and going for his head. When Fate ducked and slightly grazed his forehead, he was slightly surprised to find that his barrier was shattered under Asuna's technique, forcing him to be exposed at the same time when it was Negi who had intercepted him at that very moment.

In the course of that very second, three things happened at the same time. Gamabunta had managed to get close towards the four armed demon god, stabbing two of its hands together with his tanto and holding the remaining arms, fully exposing the giant's shoulders

Naruto had suddenly let go of Setsuna, sending her straight towards Konoka like a diving bomb nearing the speed of sound, her wings folded to let her gain a more aerodynamic position to gain more speed.

Negi had managed to deliver a punch straight to the mysterious boy's cheek that sent him crashing towards the ground which was immediately followed up by Konohamaru appearing from above and smashed the adamantine staff straight on to the boy's back.

When the dust settled, Negi was at Konohamaru's side when he saw Fate getting up; a bruised and swollen right cheek was placed on his face, a testament to Negi's attack on him.

"Interesting, it seems that three of you has managed to hurt me like this, especially you, Negi Springfield. That man earlier, the man that fought like a force of nature, he managed to do it three times as any of you could ever hope for. However, this ends here." His hand glowed with magical power as he was about to deliver a punch straight to Konohamaru as the brunette prepared Kongo Nyoi when he noticed his muscles starting to ache.

'_Damn it… Not now!' _Konohamaru cursed as he felt his hands tremble from the pain that his technique brought on him, Fate's punch was getting pretty close to Negi when from out of nowhere, Evangeline had come into view, holding Fate's right hand with a confident smirk.

"Thank you for taking care of my boy, amateur." Eva said as she concentrated her magic in her right left hand and delivered a solid punch at the boy that sent him flying across the lake. She looked around the two and a topless Asuna as she said, "Now we're even, boy."

"You did well, boy, but you still have ways to go if you can even hope to stand in the might like those of the Thousand Master or even that blonde idiot." To this, Eva pointed her finger at the blonde riding the giant toad, the vampire had a finger under her chin as she saw the frog, yanking the giant blade at the impaled hands of the gigantic Sukuna. Gamabunta flipped it upward as it spun when Naruto jumped, concentrating Nature energy at his foot. With his enhanced strength, Naruto kicked the very bottom of the Toad blade's hilt that sent it flying blade first towards Sukuna at mach speeds. It impaled Sukuna by the stomach as the said monster staggered back from the punishment it took. Naruto landed on the frog's head and began concentrating ever more deeply going through a set of seals while Gamabunta began churning out oil.

"Listen up, boya, in large scale battles like this, the magister magi's role is nothing more than giving off high powered artillery! In other words, fire power is everything!"

With that, Eva floated off at a distance as she began her chant while commanding Negi and Asuna to watch. Konohamaru mentioned something close to her being a sore loser while he watched his sensei who now grabbed an empty fuuda paper from his pocket and began doing seals in it, he noticed that the introduction of chakra to it began expanding as it gave off a small whiff of smoke from it, rising into the heavens.

"Lic lac la lac lilac! Queen of eternity, bound unto me by my contract! I call upon thee, darkness that is unending! Eternal Glacier!"

It was then that huge columns of ice sprouted forth from the lake waters below and instantly froze the form of Sukuna no Kami.

"One after another, who the hell is this?" Chigusa asked, it was bad enough that she had to face that blonde monster that can summon frogs and stomp her familiars like they were nothing, now came in a different mage that seemed far more competent than the son of the Thousand Master.

"You're way out of your league woman; this is a one hundred and fifty, four-way absolute zero field-effect freezing spell. Even a giant monster like Sukuna can't defend from something like that!"

Negi stared in amazement as Konohamaru coughed out something about gloating too much.

"I am the Vampire Evangeline, Gospel of Darkness, evil mage without e-"

"Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Release: Toad Oil Flame Bomb)" Naruto shouted from the background as Gamabunta let out a surge of oil from his mouth as Naruto threw the burning fuuda at the stream of oil, igniting it with a resounding explosion all the while Naruto focused a Daitoppa while still in Sage mode that let out a vicious torrent of wind that turned the stream of fire into a spiralling column of hell flames that pierced the frozen form of Sukuna no Kami at its belly, forcing out the gigantic toad blade that miraculously survived from Eva's spell before it literally exploded from the volatility of the toad oil and the wind feeding the flames.

The mighty form that was once Sukuna no Kami was now nothing more than smouldering pieces on to the lake bed as Chigusa was simply blown away from the blast.

"IT'S NOT FAIR! HOW COME THAT IDIOT INADVERTEDLY PISSES ME OFF TO NO END? THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE **MY** TARGET, DAMN IT! **MY** KILL!"

On to the other end, Naruto looked on in a satisfied manner with a grin as he allowed Gamabunta to go back to his home.

"Eh? I could have sworn I heard Eva-chan just now." Naruto mentioned to no one in particular but just completely shrugged it off.

To be continued...

* * *

And chapter nine is done. I've yet to decide if I want to give the pactios or not, but so far, many of you are interested in it. I'll have to really think about this one.

Jutsu section:

Suiton: Teppo Dama (Water Release: Gun Bullet/gunshot) a technique that allows the user to spit out large globules of water from their mouth. C-rank

First appearance: Naruto Manga chapter 135, Naruto anime episode 78

Katon: Karyudan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile) Fire breathing jutsu, takes shape of a miniature dragon head. B-Rank

First appearance: Naruto anime episode 69

Raiton: Raidensou (Lightning Release: Spear of thunder and lightning) when incorporated to Kongo Nyoi, the staff acts like a pole with the jutsu itself acting like a spear tip. C-rank

Basis: Chidori

Senkakusha no Nehan (Nirvana of the Enlightened One) A body enhancing technique that is taught by the Monkey tribe to a summoner it deems worthy, opposite to what the toads do by relying on nature to gather energy for Sage Mode, this technique relies more on the internal manifestation of energy and bursting it out on any specified area. Like Raiton: Yoroi, this allows the user to gain super sensory perception and hyperactivity of synapses that result in very fast reflexes, this also result in increased agility and evasion but do not cause much chakra as the expulsion of the energy is very subtle to minimal. More on this explained as the story progresses.

Basis: Raiton: Yoroi and a little bit of Hitman Reborn for appearance.


	10. From Kyoto with Love

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Ten: From Kyoto with Love

* * *

When Negi Springfield saw that impressive spell that Evangeline-san did, he was simply awestruck! The fact that she so easily destroyed that monster made him fully understand the power of true blooded vampires and that they had near limitless potential. Of course his awe for the vampire was cut short when Naruto-nii-san had unintentionally interrupted Eva's gloating with a combination of a fire, water and wind element spells that not only caused a massive incineration of the presumed demon god, it also created an explosion powerful enough to shatter Ryoumen Sukuna no Kami's body to chunks of what it was, as in ashen remains of the fallen monster that had some parts still smouldering as it floated on the water.

That and coupled about the fact that it was Naruto-nii-san that did it, drove Evangeline-san completely angry for two things: One, Naruto-nii-san took away her kill that she had rightfully subdued when Naruto-nii-san kept coming up with moves to leave it open for him to save Konoka, and two, it was Naruto-nii-san, simple as that. Evangeline, ever since the first day of their class, found Naruto to be irksome, irritating, maddening, or any other word that brought her to a fit of rage that she needed something to eventually cool down. She would often curse at the blonde whenever his back was turned during his class, and scowled at him whenever his attention was on her. There was simply no positive relationship existing between the two! Well, Naruto more often than not, tries to reach out to the vampire who in turn, tries her best to ignore his ideas of getting close to her. Of course, Naruto-nii-san stated once he didn't really like girls with a flat chest, and Eva-san was as flat as they come! Of course, Negi's male instincts would NEVER say that out loud in front of Eva-san for some apparent reason, but Naruto-nii was different, he was so different that it brought a lot more questions about him than there were answers. Evangeline-san said that Naruto reminded her too much of Negi's father, the Thousand Master and that he was as laid back and was a massive goofball like Naruto-nii was.

He didn't know how obfuscating stupidity was so deceitful at their enemies that the said enemies would more often than not; disregard their opponent as nothing to be taken seriously. Well now he knew the effect of what Naruto had with his enemies, at first they would disregard him as nothing more than an idiot that won't survive a fight, but after a few moves and show how brutal he can become, they grew scared of him. That girl Chigusa felt it first hand, it was barely noticeable, but Naruto-nii-san inflicted fear on her far more than he let on. Much to the vampire's begrudging respect at that. There was something to both fear and admire with Naruto that it brought down the chills to Negi's spine as he thought about it.

When it was time to check on his students, Negi saw Konohamaru sitting by the side of the wooden bridge to the altar with his knees dangling as the brunette looked at the now calm waters beneath. Negi looked concerned, just a little earlier, when they fought that weird boy. Konohamaru flinched a little that allowed the boy to intercept them if not for Evangeline. When it was all said and done, Konohamaru dispelled Enma and he began to sweat profusely, he sat down on to the edge of the bridge and began to breath in slowly.

"Konohamaru-nii-san, are you alright?" Negi asked the brunette looked at him with those baggy eyes; signifying his fatigue as the brunette said while looking at Negi, "Worry about yourself more, Negi, look at your hand."

Konohamaru pointed weakly to Negi's right hand as it was turned to stone, Konohamaru slightly grinned at this as he put the sealing accessory back on his forehead, the small headgear tightened and chakra began locking it into place as Konohamaru shakily tied his headband around his forehead.

"Right now, I'm in extreme muscle pain, the fact that I used Senkakusha no Nehan when I'm at low chakra and the pill's effect wearing off says a lot about the pain I'm experiencing right now. It's nothing too serious that I can't recover with at least a full night of rest, but compared to yours, my injury is nothing." Konohamaru said with a grin before laying his back on the wooden bridge.

"Ah man, that was really tiring; I shouldn't have used that technique! Now I'm in a lot of pain." Konohamaru groaned when the blonde had appeared just as to their side in a blur with a grin on his face.

"You deserve it, stupid apprentice. Maybe next time, you'll try to learn HOW to use your jutsu more effectively like yours truly." Naruto gloated at this jokingly when he heard a familiar voice that was uttering curse words at him left and right.

"You spotlight stealing son of a bitch! I was about to end that fight with a spell and look what happened! I could have been in a much better position to gloat over my own powers!" Evangeline mentioned, Naruto only grinned as if all the tirade of insults she sent his way seemed to only enter one ear and pass through the other ear.

"Oh, Eva-chan! I thought you couldn't make it into the trip! I'm so glad you could join us!" Naruto exclaimed as he approached Evangeline in a playful dash as the vampire shouted at him, "DON'T CALL ME EVA-CHAN, DAMN IT! WE ARE NOT FAMILIAR PEOPLE! AND STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

Naruto stopped midway and looked like he was shot down.

"Heartfelt reunions aside, I'm glad this whole thing is finally done." Said Asuna in relief as one of the girls had supplied her with some spare clothing.

Setsuna then successfully made it back to where Naruto and the others were. Setsuna then approached Naruto for this and bowed her head in front.

"I'm very thankful to you, Naruto-sensei, if it wasn't for you, I would have probably never saved Konoka-ojou-sama."

Naruto waved it off, "Don't worry about it. That's what friends are for!"

"LISTEN TO ME, YOU MORON! I AM NOT DONE HARPING ABOUT YOUR IDEA OF STEALING MY SPOTLIGHT WHEN I OWNED THAT PATHETIC MONSTER!"

This time, it was Konohamaru who spoke with a deadpan tone, "Really? As far as I recall, you were too busy gloating and monolouging about how awesome you were when Naruto-nii finished his jutsu."

"You stay out of this, Sarutobi; it is with your master that I am having some beef with!" Evangeline shouted, to this she turned back to Naruto who looked like he wasn't even paying attention, if those half lidded eyes were any indication.

Eva fumed at this, "I was almost there! I was so CLOSE! Yet there you were; doing that magic of yours and you took what was rightfully mine!"

Naruto then defended himself at this as best as he could, "To be fair, I didn't notice you when I used that Jutsu, I was too busy focusing on creating an exploding tag because I ran out of incendiaries. Besides, you were taking too long."

To this, everyone around them had a large bead of sweat at the back of their foreheads, Evangeline stated the obvious; "Did you not see the giant frozen monster that just happened to turn to ice a few seconds before?"

"Well, there was that, but I thought it was just like that, that thing barely moved around! And it was white! How could I know that it turned to an ice sculpture?"

To this, Eva replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "Oh I don't know, maybe it was the frozen water AROUND IT that should have told you about the spell!"

Naruto shrugged at this, "Well then, you should have just gloated AFTER you were done with the spell. It's more epic that way."

Eva shouted out her frustrations at this, "ARGH!"

"Um, yeah, look, Eva-chan…"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"Eva-chan…" Eva had the side of her eyes going red from the anger she was displaying, Naruto seemed unaware of this as he continued, "It's really nice to boast and all, but you just have to do it after you were done, really. Monolouging on how about strong you are is stupid unless you have a pretty badass speech. Which I take it, isn't badass enough for me to stop. You talked about yourself for what, ten seconds?"

"Nine point eighty-three seconds to be exact, Naruto-sensei." Chachamaru helpfully replied as Naruto said, "And I took the same amount of time preparing a jutsu. Now tell me, how should I rub it in her face? When in the middle of casting a spell or AFTER it as she saw the burning chunks of her pet floating on the lake?"

"Actually, Naruto-sensei, your record in doing that technique and Master's monologue was longer by four point fifty-two seconds if the hand gestures were any indication." Chachamaru corrected, Eva growled at this, it was much worse!

"Oh, did it now? Well that just further proves my point." Naruto commented with a grin.

Gah! How frustrating it was! She couldn't just win against this idiot! It was like his idiocy was blocking any insult or that her insults just wasn't understood! Eva began counting backwards from ten and started pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to block out the thoughts of a certain idiotic blonde that had been pissing her off since day one.

Naruto looked around and saw some of the girls from Negi's class had walked in on the wooden pathway that leads to the altar. The pathway was in terrible shape if the fight between that boy and Negi's group were any indication, the wooden bridge's floor in the middle just looked like giant toothpicks that stuck out and had a few of the side to its left was torn off.

"Wow, looks like you people made a party out of this place." Mana commented, looking around with a frown, she had seen that giant talking frog, toad, whatever, move around with a human on its head, at first she thought it was a demon or an ayakashi, monsters of ancient folklore that liked to spread mischief and grief upon different denizens of the country. But then, she found a person actually standing on top of that thing, and it turned out to be Naruto-sensei as well.

From the looks of it, Naruto was clearly having the strength that surpasses even her own. But her initial assessment of the boy did not even indicate his standing in what she considers as people being typically powerful. In her initial observation, she found the blonde to be stupid, reckless, unconcerned and laid back. He was a bad liar, a near ditzy personality that occasionally involves mischief and didn't like doing paperwork, which meant that Naruto was impatient; a common mistake among rookies. But after now, as she witnessed this battle firsthand, she thought for a moment and found out that the blonde was simply obfuscating stupidity. Behind that goofy, stupid looking grin lies a monstrous person, cunning enough to take you by surprise.

She needed to be alert when around him. She couldn't let her guard down for a second. Uzumaki Naruto-sensei is a dangerous person.

"Eh, Mana-chan, is there something on my face?" Naruto asked, pointing it out to accentuate what was wrong with his face.

Mana shook her head, "No, sensei, just curious about those marks on your cheeks." She said in excuse.

"Oh, these?" The blonde touched the said marks with a grin and then added, "These are birthmarks, don't know how I got them, but I did."

Then again, there had always been idiots that were crazy powerful.

Kuu Fei then raised her hand and informed Yue, "Baka leader! I saw a shooting star earlier! Though it was red and had smoke on the tail end! Even so, I made a wish to fight a great opponent, aru!"

"Shooting star?" Negi looked confused at this as he didn't even remember one single star that had made a streak this night. Then again, fighting for your life was terribly distracting.

Yue on the other hand, who had been much closer to the proximity of the battle and saw the results herself, knew better.

'_That was no shooting star that was a human female that was sent flying to lower earth orbit by Naruto-sensei of all people.' _Yue thought as she eyed the blonde male then to Konohamaru.

'_Then again, I've seen worse of what happened. Who knew Konohamaru-sensei had a familiar or that he can turn said creature of his into a weapon?' _

Yue looked around and noticed that Negi was staggering while Konohamaru sat on to the side of the docks, heaving.

The girl inwardly scowled at this, did Nodoka know about Negi-sensei's true personality? That he was a mage and that those that are close to him were rather dangerous people? She had her doubts as well, that little show earlier down by cinema town wasn't exactly 'CG' or whatever special effect they had back there. Not only that, but the whole incident from the night before was raising her lots of questions as well. But to her, after that scary boy had entered their room and Asakura telling her to find help, the questions slowly came to life and answered so many but left room for more. Granted, it certainly made sense but not in the sense that magic or that giant talking toads or monkeys for that matter were real, but it sure provided her with a lot of info on certain people like Negi-sensei and Naruto-sensei.

The question was, did the academy know about it?

From Konoka's family's mansion, it was most probably the case. There were mismatches of concern and relief written on Eishun's face. It was barely noticeable, but it was there. She was more perceptive than anybody had thought.

She had an inkling Nodoka already knew, and thus, she wanted to keep quiet about it for certain reasons. She was not one to doubt her friend, no, she wouldn't even consider herself as one if she did.

"Boya, allow me to give you your marks for this battle." Eva said, standing tall (well, as best as she could, anyway) before Negi who looked nervous.

"You were terrible! You're completely vulnerable from behind once that boy managed to get close to you! You failed to see the importance of your own magic power when you saw that boy teleport in the water! You failed to negate more energy being given to Sakurazaki and Kagurazaka! Worst of all…" The vampire pointed to the two extra-terrestrial ninjas.

"You relied too much on those two to help you maintain your place! You've grown dull, boya, maybe next time; those two shouldn't interfere with a fight you got in your hands!"

"Oi, he's still a kid, Eva-chan, give him a break!" Asuna defended, Naruto simply held her left shoulder and shook his head.

"Although harsh, Eva seems to have a point. Negi has been relying too much on others that it completely left him open when opponents get close enough. Case and point, what happened just now, Negi is vulnerable to close range attacks so much, and from what I've seen out of these barriers of yours, it only reduces the damage, not actually deflect them. In our home, long range specialists require that they have last resorts if ever enemies get too close to them. That or at least have an idea about evasion tactics." Naruto mentioned, before looking back at Negi. In truth, he wanted to defend Negi, but he knew that Eva was speaking facts about it. Much like how Jiraiya did it during most of their training, his master reminded him of his shortcomings and always tried to correct them the best way he can. He improved a lot during that training, even the white haired old coot incorporated tactics in using his clones. It was harsh, but to him, it was well worth the weight in it. Though he thought that Eva needed to tone down on the insults at Negi, it just wasn't productive.

"The way things are now, Negi will never grow strong in his own right." Naruto mentioned as the brunette followed suit while watching Eva lecture Negi and give him a scolding or two, "I have a feeling that it's our fault as well, we've been interfering with Negi's battles too much. Pretty soon he'll be lax in his own training and just focus on finding his father."

"This is counter productive, if you haven't noticed." Naruto helpfully added to the fire brand as he then said, "Negi needs to realize that he needs to improve on his weakness rather than specializing more on spells. If I were Negi, I'd train more in hand-to-hand simply because this is the natural first choice of any fighter, but that's just how our people do it; Taijutsu is an art that people tend to cover first instead of techniques since using chakra immediately is wasteful."

"Yeah, but Negi's still ten." Asuna reminded the blonde who only nodded at this while looking at the vampire giving a mouthful to the young mage. Of course, Naruto found the little vampire's tirade tiring as she just couldn't stop talking! If he knew any better, he thought that Eva was nagging her heart out just to put Negi in his place as a low tier magician pitifully.

He was twirling a kunai in his hand and quickly flicked it towards Eva's back who suddenly grew alarmed. When the vampire turned her head to have better view as to why Naruto would suddenly do that, she saw the grey haired boy melding from the water just behind her back and was quickly closing the gap between them.

"Barrier breaking… Lance of stone." Said the boy as he reached out his hand, forming into a stone spike that reached for Eva's stomach intent on piercing it and taking down the powerful mage, the tip was so close, so close that it drew blood, so close that it was to pierce deeper into her skin, when the blonde teacher had appeared in front and punched the said rock with sheer strength alone. When Eva saw Naruto's face, it looked serious for a moment, his eyelids were red, scarlet as blood. His irises weren't majestic blue but yellow while his pupils were dilated to the side forming an oblong like shape.

Naruto then simply held out his hand and leaned forward, intent on punching the mysterious boy that acted like an animated corpse but stopped midway when rocks had suddenly sprouted behind him, the blonde ended his punch past halfway just a few centimetres from his face. Everyone was deathly silent as the water between the two slightly rippled when the boy said, "Such a cowardly response, you intend to take me down but not finish the deed because I would have pierced your heart. Don't think you can stop me with mere trick-…"

The boy stopped as he felt a powerful force pushing his face away with the force of a truck slamming at him at full speed. As the force rippled on his cheeks and felt his entire body electrocuted from the attack, the boy wondered just how Naruto was able to do such a baffling attack that could neither be seen nor felt that sent him skidding on the water.

He was then entrenched on the shoreline that sent him skidding a few more feet before stopping by a large boulder that shattered from the sheer force.

"H-How in the world…" Yue watched as she saw Naruto's immense strength, it was like how she saw the blonde literally _kicking_a twenty story knife straight at the giant white monster. Yue shook her head, it just wasn't possible!

What was more surprising however, was the boy that Naruto-sensei just decked from the altar to the shorelines was getting up from the said attack. Dirt littered his body due to the results of the skirmish earlier. In Yue's opinion, Naruto could have shattered the boy's skull with that attack.

"I see… A true blood and a person with unknown abilities that equates to at least the strength of one member of Ala Rubra, it would be disastrous if I have to fight either of you right now. I'll be retreating for today."

And with that, the silver haired boy melded once more into the water and vanished from their sight.

"That brat moves like a construct, he's no human, that's for sure." Eva commented, Naruto simply stood there and looked at the area to where the boy vanished. To this, the blonde scowled.

"He's tougher than I thought. I'll give him that, for him to stand just like that from my punch in Sage mode, he's quite a monster."

"That's quite a serious face you're putting, idiot, this is the first time I've seen it in your." Eva commented, Naruto however, simply hadn't turned his gaze yet from the area where that boy left as he said, "Yeah, well, that kid is making me worry. It looks like someone is interested in the academy. Of what, I don't know. But if this keeps up, the campus itself will be in danger. I just hope the old man has enough countermeasures set up by the time we get out of here."

It was then that Negi instantly collapsed, when the girls all noticed, they went over to their teacher who was breathing heavily, finally noticing that the Petrification spell used earlier was slowly affecting Negi, crawling towards his face as he struggled to take in oxygen.

Chachamaru quickly grab hold of their teacher before he collapsed on the wooden floor.

"Negi-sensei's magic resistance is unusually high therefore the Petrification process is very slow. However, this is a double edged sword for Negi-sensei seeing as he'll suffocate if his neck petrifies now." Chachamaru mentioned, the robot girl began examining the child as Negi struggled to breath. To her right, she heard a light thud and looked at the downed form of Konohamaru who had his back turned for the girls to notice his unconscious form. Naruto cursed up a storm as he approached his apprentice in worry.

"Damn apprentice, he just LOVES trying to kill himself every time he gets into a fight." Naruto mentioned as he grabbed an empty fuuda from his pocket as Kaede asked the blonde, "What wrong with Konohamaru-sensei, de gozaru?"

"Chakra depletion, it's a common phenomenon that happens in our world, it happens when one person uses so much chakra that his energy reserves are almost down to nil. It's fatal if chakra reaches zero point since we need chakra to run our system."

Once Naruto had finished that, he began performing a set of seals as words began weaving to the fuuda, creating a set letters that the kunoichi looked on, heavily impressed. Asuna looked over at Evangeline and looked frantic.

"W-What should we do? Can't you do something, Eva-chan?"

"Sorry, I'm not that good in healing magic. I've got no use for it."

Once Naruto was done, he quickly turned Konohamaru flat on his back and removed his shirt; the blonde slapped the fuuda with a new seal on Konohamaru's abdomen as Naruto's hand glowed with an ephemeral blue light. The brunette flinched and gritted his teeth as Naruto reeled his hand back and jabbed his fingers straight to the fuuda.

"What are you doing?" Yue asked, as Naruto merely grinned at this as he said, "This is called a chakra transfusion technique, it's more ritualistic rather than science based as compared to what our medics do at home. This is a pretty basic exercise in Fuinjutsu that lets the user transfuse chakra to any object he desires for a prolonged period of time. My sensei often suffers from chakra depletion due to his low reserves and a technique that is constantly on if he removes a certain object, it was one of the reasons why I used this. The problem in this technique is that it only gives enough chakra to sustain something, in this case, Konohamaru's chakra coils. It doesn't relieve him of his chakra depletion but it would be enough to at least let him breath and be conscious as his body recovers from exhaustion."

Konohamaru grunted in pain as he clenched his teeth from the chakra forcefully entering his system, his heavy breathing slowed, almost as much as the sweat from his forehead was slowly starting to disappear. With a weary look, Konohamaru opened his eyes as he struggled to get up.

"Damn technique… Hurts like a bitch every time you do it." Konohamaru muttered with a hoarse voice, his body sluggishly moving as he tried to turn around, his muscles were rigid and ached a lot.

"Suck it up, brat. Every time you fight you always end up almost killing yourself. I don't even know why you try and imitate me; you aren't exactly a chakra battery like I am." The blonde mentioned as Konohamaru clenched his fists hard. It was unfair to him. Naruto was a jinchuuriki, a super soldier that were used as secret weapons during war and a last resort. They house living embodiments of malevolent chakras that exist within their world that are considered as near infinite in amount. Even with his countless training hours he could never hope to stand in the place where Naruto is, right now, his chakra levels weren't even enough to match half of Naruto's. He needed to get stronger somehow; he needed to show that he wasn't just a member of the Sarutobi household and that he can exceed even his own grandfather. He needed to train better in using Senkakusha no Nehan.

During their conversation, a brilliant flash of light appeared just behind them as the ninjas saw Konoka wearing the same outfit that her father and attendants wore. She looked like a priestess or something close to the Onmyouji that Setsuna always talked about.

Naruto looked at his apprentice who was now being carried on the master's back who was scowling at it. There could only have been one person or rather creature that was responsible for this.

And there would be hell to pay.

Somewhere, Chigusa had gotten up from her painful landing. That blonde halfwit managed to destroy the summoned demon with a fire based spell that was strengthened with a wind based one. Not only did it the flames surged the body of Ryoumen Sukuna no Kami, it also exploded because of the wind spell that fanned the flames and contained it with so much volatile energy that it grew unstable as it reached out. Talk about napalm bombing.

As she trekked painfully from her landing spot, Amagasaki Chigusa limped away from the KMA, it would be too dangerous to go back there now, especially since their best operatives would be coming back tomorrow, she'd be a wanted person right now.

'_You… are a bad person, aren't you?'_

Chigusa stopped and looked up, listening to some form of disembodied voice that was rather stating the obvious, if she wasn't in pain, she'd be rolling her eyes at this. Instead, she just looked around and let that voice speak.

'_But those evil-doers and their pride… Should be prepared to face evil themselves…__'_

Chigusa felt like jumping when she saw a knife suddenly impaling itself on the ground in front of her.

'_Are you prepared?'_

It was then that a small, cute and disturbingly homicidal looking puppet appeared in front of her carrying a butcher knife that looked like a giant sword to her.

"If you aren't prepared, then you are nothing more than a third-rate, cowardly little punk, a fool who can't even grasp the idea that to live by the sword is to die by the sword."

Chigusa didn't have any coherent thought at this, as she chose the best possible solution for this kind of situation.

She promptly passed out.

* * *

The next day:

"I TOLD YOU, IT WAS MOSTLY CRITICAL, ANIKI! IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT PACTIO, NEGI-ANIKI WOULD BE DEAD!" Chamo screamed at the top his lungs, bound by thick rope before being slowly dipped closer and closer to a pot of boiling water. Naruto didn't look convinced as he ever so slightly lowered the rope. In truth, Naruto wanted it to be oil, but that would be too cruel, Chamo stared at the look that Naruto gave him and said, "You gotta' believe me, aniki! The situation called for it! Didn't you do it when you were in a bind as well?"

Naruto recalled that lady that took chakra out of his mouth through kissing, low and behold later, she turned into an old prune that gave him shudders. In spite of THAT memory, Naruto lowered the rope once more.

"Oh, come on!" Chamo pleaded, begged and flattered Naruto so that he would change his mind and not let the ensuing punishment take place, so far, he's had no luck.

"Chamo, this is punishment is for using THOSE particular situations on an innocent ten year old that happens to have a very vague view on intimate relationships. I don't know why, but I think his sister would not approve of such actions coming from you."

"He's got to grow up sometime, aniki, why not now?" Chamo asked, Naruto replied that it isn't the time yet for Negi to know such being ten and still have no grasp of what close relationships give off. He wanted the brat to learn this naturally, as in, when Negi became curious about it. He didn't want the kid growing up a sexual deviant that would score with women left and right, he may be a pervert, but he was a chivalrous pervert!

His attention was then placed elsewhere when he saw Setsuna walking away from Negi's room, stopping and looking back, as she talked to Evangeline. Naruto simply tied the rope in his hands to a nearest pole and jumped away.

"Hey, wait! Aniki! Don't leave me here!"

"Aren't you even going to say your farewells?" Evangeline asked, looking at the samurai girl with a small frown, not like she cared anymore than she already has, but to her, it is rather… dismissive that Setsuna would just leave like that.

"It would only be painful to see them face to face like this…" Setsuna replied, before she could talk, Naruto had appeared suddenly to her side and gave her a large bonk on the head for good measure.

"YOU SWORD WIELDING DUMBASS!" The blonde literally screamed in anger at this, he was angry, they talked about this, he smashed some sense into her head just last night and now she was willing to do it again? What the hell is wrong with this woman?

"We talked about this, Setsuna! Do you really want me to literally shove my lesson down your head? You don't HAVE to leave; we've been over this, cripes, woman! What does it take for you to realize that your own Nakama would want you by their side no matter what? We're your friends, Setsuna! We aren't strangers, we've met and talked, you became part of our lives!"

"B-But as the law of our people, once you saw our true form, we would have to abandon the people that…"

"Screw that rule! In fact, screw everything to what your people stand for! If it means I have to leave my friends because of that simple rule, I'd rather be dragged away kicking and screaming! No matter the consequence, being with the people that I care is the only thing that matters!" Naruto declared, Setsuna stopped for a moment as Setsuna stared into the passionate eyes of one Uzumaki Naruto, who trampled the law of her people. If her people could hear to what Naruto just said, he would have been lynched and mobbed on the spot. But Naruto declared it with so full of heart that it literally stopped her from thinking about her tribe.

"It isn't what you want, right? Then why should you have to do it? Why should you have to leave the people that you created your bonds with? That's just plain stupid!" Naruto answered as Setsuna bowed.

"I have already repaid my debt to the Konoe family; I thank them for raising me when the Shinmeiryuu School abandoned me. My duty is done." With that, Setsuna tried to run off, but it should be noted that no one has ever outran Naruto in this world.

"Stop running, goddamn it!" Naruto had suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her back, she fell down as Naruto dragged her back into the mansion by holding the back of the collar as Setsuna was looking absolutely mortified "You coward, how do you think Konoka would feel if you just leave like that? We've all got skeletons in our closet, so what? Does it make you even less of a person? I don't think so! If you want to have a purpose for staying by her side, then why not continue what you're doing now?"

Naruto then added, "Don't ever try giving up in making bonds, Setsuna. It's the only thing that will keep you sane in this world."

Setsuna looked up at the figure that was dragging her back, Naruto didn't even have to look back at her as he continued, "People change, Setsuna, if they don't see you for you, then you're just going to have to claw your way into their hearts."

"There is no bigger pain than being on the verge of loneliness with nothing but your shadow and reflection as your companions. It doesn't lead to a safe haven, Setsuna, it just leads to emptiness."

Setsuna remained quiet when Naruto quickly picked her up and placed her in a piggy back, slowly, getting back into the mansion. For some reason, Naruto wasn't angry, rather, he was reflecting as to what Setsuna was forcing herself to do.

"That emptiness soon builds up and it gradually turns to something much more sinister. Hatred and bitterness are born when you have no one to support you. It isn't about duty, Setsuna; it's about being there for each other. Friends share something that can never be broken by anybody."

As Naruto looked up, he saw Negi who was dashing towards them, with Konohamaru at the back carrying a wooden crutch, a sign of his chakra exhaustion.

"And that something is something you have to discover and feel on your own..." Naruto ended with a smile as he set down Setsuna when Negi said to the swordswoman, "You aren't really going to run off, are you Setsuna-san? What about Konoka-san? What about the rest of us! If people knew my identity too, I'd be turned into an ermine so please don't go!"

To this, Negi was suddenly stopped when Asuna and Konoka had dashed towards them in a rush.

"This is bad, Setsuna, the Shikigami we used in the hotel have gone crazy!" Asuna declared, she knew something was about to happen there she just didn't know what.

"Set-chan, let's hurry up or Nitta-sensei will punish us again! Those Shikigami will only worsen the situation!"

"Sakurazaki! Your paper dolls just went overboard and decided to do a strip show earlier! We need to get back now!"

Naruto smiled at this, not for the image that Asakura gave him, it was about the fact that they were all grabbing Setsuna as if they were expecting him to go back with them.

"See? Doesn't it make you feel better just being with them? I know I am." Naruto informed. Setsuna had slowly but surely, let out a smile from her lips as she nodded.

Once they got back to the hotel, Naruto waved to his students a little farewell and grabbed Konohamaru; the blonde jumped towards their room and looked forward to a nice warm bath after a full night of fighting.

Once he sloppily set Konohamaru on his Futon and a mutter of insult from the brunette, Naruto quickly grabbed his materials and went straight towards the baths.

Once he was close enough towards the baths, he saw Kazumi dashing away followed by Mana and the rest who were chasing after her with only a towel on. Naruto could care less as he needed a much relaxing bath right now!

Once he made it to the hot springs, he sat down and gave a sigh of content as he felt himself slowly drifting from consciousness. He shook his head for a moment there and relaxed, letting the warm feeling of the hot spring take effect and soothe his slightly weary muscles.

When he was done, he got up and dried himself with his towel and placed it at the back of his neck, fully exposing himself to the obviously empty changing room.

'_Hehe…'_

CLICK!

On alert, Naruto immediately jumped from his current place and ran back into the baths covering his modesty with the towel on his shoulders.

"Thanks for the photo, sensei!" Asakura smirked as she headed out with a trickle of blood from her nose. If not for the fact that it was him that was the target of her mischief, Naruto would be laughing his ass off at that one.

"Kazumi, give me the camera." Naruto deadpanned, Asakura simply walked out.

"Good luck in catching me first, sensei, remember you're still in your towel and I doubt you running around with it to hide your modesty would be of little commotion."

With that, Asakura gave a simple wave as Naruto frantically went for his clothes and found none.

'_Why that snide little… I'll get her for this__!' _Nitta approached the baths with caution as he saw Naruto chuckling at the corner of the changing room. He didn't know why, but that smile was a sign of something not worth getting involved in. He wanted to prevent it but to him, it was simply not worth the effort anymore. Naruto-sensei can handle himself, he was an adult now.

Oh how petty Naruto can be sometimes, and who says revenge can be a bad thing?

Later on, Naruto and the rest made their way towards a three storey house that Negi mentioned belonged to his father, they looked around and found the place filled with books. Naruto didn't look interested in them as he had his hands on the back of his forehead. He looked at a small picture frame where the image of a person in Negi's likeness (who he deduced as Negi's father) was standing with people who were assumed as Nagi's friends. He had a raised eyebrow at this and asked Eishun who had taken interest in Naruto's intent on seeing the picture. Konohamaru, who had been walking on crutches the whole day, watched his master stare intently on the picture of the red headed man that is assumed as Negi's father.

"Hey, Eishun-san… What's the name that your group was called?" Naruto asked, Negi had yet to reach this place as the boy kept looking around. Eishun looked at the boy and said, "Our group was called, Ala Rubra, or Red Wings in our language. It was a pretty compulsive group with Nagi as the leader of it."

"Red Wings, huh? Pretty flashy name for a group then again, I was named along with Sasuke and Sakura as the Arata Densetsu no Sannin (New Legendary Three). So I guess I can't complain."

Eishun looked impressed at this, the boy was only starting to turn twenty and already he had received such prestige? How come he did not hear any of this?

"My I ask as to why you were christened with that name, Naruto-san?" Asked Eishun, curious as to what the reason was behind the name. Naruto merely grinned at this as he said, "It's because the three of us were the major players of our war, not only that, we came from a lineage of master and students that had a trace back to the original three, which were our masters respectively. I was taught by the Sealing specialist and Toad sage, Jiraiya, Sasuke was taught by the Ninjutsu specialist, Orochimaru and Sakura was taught by the medical specialist, Tsunade. Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya; all three of them were the original members of the Sannin that passed their knowledge to us. Not only that, many of our peers already consider us as those who have already surpassed their masters."

"Wow… So you guys were given such amazing titles? How come I didn't know this?" Eva asked, suddenly in their presence, Naruto answered.

"It's because we aren't really from here. Or should I say, we aren't from this world. We accidentally drifted here by a botched time-space Jutsu that I was working on."

To this, Eva gave a snort and then a tiny chuckle, "Oh? Should I be surprised that you were the one responsible?"

Oh, payback was SO going to be sweet! Eva had thought, finally, some dirt for the blonde that she can rub in his face! Then again, manipulating the time space folds with magic was simply too difficult without a proper device, and even then, the machine would be as big as four storey building.

"Eh, it was mostly discovering a lost technique that my father did, but I guess this type of jutsu is harder than it looks. The sealing is too difficult to maintain and the amalgam of what the Fourth Hokage did in his sealing was simply not in my master's notes." Naruto thought as Negi and the others caught up with them and saw the picture. While the girls and Negi looked at the picture, Naruto, Eva and Eishun were discussing. The conversation turned to something much more serious as Konohamaru had intervened in the middle of the conversation suggesting that something or rather someone was investigating Mahora, if that white haired boy was any indication.

"Most likely, they are either after Negi or at least one member of his class. Now that I've been looking into it, these aren't your ordinary class members; one is a ninja while the other is a swordswoman guarding a potentially powerful mage in her class. There's also a gunslinger and a martial artist. Call me stupid, but I think this class has got to be a collection of both the weirdest and the most intriguing members of the whole school. I wonder what that old coot is thinking that he could place this many people in the class… Was it for his granddaughter?" Eva asked, thinking with her hand cusped to her chin.

"It's quite a possibility that we've looked up, Evangeline-san, but I don't think Konoka was present in their radar up until last night, that boy was more interested in Negi-kun than he was with Konoka. Perhaps it was his objective, but then again, I wouldn't put it past that they were interested in someone else entirely." Eishun helpfully added.

Naruto scowled at this, who could be interested in this school other than a pervert? He had already known that the World Tree was a rather large pool of Magical power if what Kaede had told her were true. Then again, something THAT big was already obvious maybe something more subtle and quite considerably, more dangerous than that. He scowled further and further at this it was possible that there was a potential weapon in the academy that could be enough for something like a group of evil-doers would consider worth investigating at. It was just like what happened to him, his status as a jinchuuriki was only present with the older generation but for the younger, it was a secret better left buried. All of that protection, all of that countermeasures that the Third Hokage had implemented, given and spent on Naruto, was no match for the might of an organization that consisted of nine S-class criminals that could wipe out a village or two, all for the sake of capturing him and eight others like him for a plan to manipulate the entire world under one banner, Akatsuki.

"We should stop thinking about this for now; we worry about it when one incompetent agent stumbles on in the school. We can get more information that way, until then, I suggest we keep this tight lipped between the four of us, we don't need for Negi to learn about this until he can rightfully defend himself better." Naruto suggested, Eva seemed curious at this and asked why.

"Well, if you want to know the answer, it's that we don't want to rush Negi's growth, there's a reason why training has to be taken in a painful road and not accelerating it to the point that it leaves Negi as a Jack of all trades and a master of none. You get where I'm going with this, right, Eva-chan?" Naruto asked. The girl only scowled at the nickname but agreed nonetheless.

"More importantly, to prepare Negi for this, he needs to focus." Naruto added before Asakura, who had suddenly had pink hair since this morning (the girl was glaring at Naruto since that incident and held the hair dye upwards with a devilish smirk), gathered their group for a picture.

When it was about to flash, Naruto quickly grabbed Eva's cheeks and contorted it into any way he wished, forcing the said girl to smile underneath furrowing eyebrows with Naruto grinning at her side as if he had done something amusing once more. A second flash occurred and before it happened, Eva decked Naruto on the cheek that forced a once formal picture into a portrait of chaos with Naruto receiving a powerful punch from Eva, with the child teacher going to their side to diffuse the situation, Konohamaru laughing while the rest of the girls watched on in surprise. Only Chachamaru was the one that stood impassive.

"Ow." Naruto said as he rubbed his swollen cheek. Damn that girl could hit hard. He was still reeling from the pain once they got back from the mansion. Now on their way home the day after the sightseeing, Negi, Naruto and Konohamaru sat by the far back of the train compartment, Konohamaru was sleeping as Naruto kept doodling for another seal exercise. Negi watched the scenery on the window of the moving Shinkansen. The orange colour of the setting sun gave off a very relaxing atmosphere around the train as Negi smiled in content, happy that he could visit his father's home.

"Hey, Negi." Naruto called out, the child teacher turned his attention to his older brother figure and curiously asked, "What is it, nii-san?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment there as the blonde looked up for a moment but shrugged it off, "Would you like to learn how to fight?"

Negi sat there silent for a moment. Was this an offer from Naruto-nii-san? Anyway, he needed to ask more about this; didn't Naruto-nii refuse to train him saying that his techniques are far different from Negi's?

"What got you asking, Naruto-nii-san? I thought you said I don't have chakra for me to learn your jutsus." The boy replied, Naruto simply leaned back on his seat as he said, "Old bag of laughs there was pretty harsh on her statements about your performance. And although what she said was mostly true, criticism without correction isn't exactly helpful either. I can tell Eva-chan would be a great master, but even she has flaws in teaching, the same with me. I can't teach you magic but I can teach you how to fight, especially enhancing your physical strength. The problem with your way of fighting is that at close range, you are pretty much toast. I can polish that for you like how I saw it was important for Konohamaru about versatility in using techs."

"But why would you do that Naruto-nii-san? I mean, not that I'm complaining or anything but why train me?" Negi asked, Naruto answered him with a smirk. Inwardly, he was trying to keep the idea of Mahora being in the sights of an enemy that had interest in it.

"Resolve is one thing I look for in people, Negi. If they have resolve, they have strength. Like how I saw you when you faced that albino kid despite your exhaustion, you could say I was surprised, really. So what do you, say?"

Negi needed not to be told twice as he was instantly in on the idea.

* * *

Mahora Academy:

Naruto looked around, careful not to be seen anywhere in this forest. As quickly as they arrived, Naruto immediately went straight to a secluded forest, thinking about what Fukasaku wanted with him. With bite of his thumb and five seals later, a little plume of smoke appeared before him, Fukasaku stood in front of Naruto with his hands behind his head and wearing a frown.

"Ah, I'll never get used to that summoning circle; one of these days we'll need an alarm system to set that thing up, takes me up by surprise, anytime!" Complained the old toad, Naruto stared at his sensei with a deadpan look, it looked like even frogs had a hard time in being oriented on what to do.

"Yo, Fukasasku-sensei!" Naruto gave a salute to which the old toad gave a smile.

"Naruto-chan? Ah, good, I was getting worried that you might have forgotten to summon me ever since two nights ago, I heard from Bunta-chan about the battle that ensued. I must say that you have come a long way ever since you've become genin." Fukasaku mused with a smile, thinking that the former master of Naruto would have been proud of his apprentice.

"So what'd you want to talk about? Oyabun said you wanted to discuss something."

"Ah, of course, the seal required for making the anchor back to Konoha. I would advice that you try to redo it. The seal is poorly made and anymore use of it would result in terribly unknown consequences. The last seal that you did caused a ten meter radius crater in a training field, but I believe it would have possibly been more than that if you had applied more chakra than necessary. The reason why we can't use it is because of the fact that the anchor seal you used would require you use more energy the further you were gone. It was a good thing that it was destroyed when it did. If you had used that seal again when in tact, I doubt Konoha would even exist right now."

Naruto paled at this and decided to keep the fact that he tried to use the same technique again just a few minutes after the initial launch. No way in hell would he say anything about this to that old woman! She'll kill him!

"What's the matter, Naruto-chan? You look pale all of a sudden."

"Nothing! I'm completely fine, I'm sure glad I didn't use that technique again, nope, no sirree!"

Fukasaku raised an eyebrow at this but decided to let it slide, "Yes well, after that research, we decided to do a reverse summoning technique, it didn't work."

Naruto's scared expression soon turned to curiosity at this, "Why?" he asked.

"It's going to be difficult to explain, but to put it in simpler terms; the idea of your time-space jutsu is way too different from the Yondaime Hokage's." Fukasaku explained as he hopped on Naruto's shoulder and showed the seal markings on Naruto's shoulders.

"Think of the time and space folds as differing roads that stretch out like networks. From our world, you arrived here using that jutsu of yours because of circumstance and that this was as far as your chakra could allow to take you to. Thus, creating a route that is different from what the rest of us summoned creatures normally take."

The old toad then hopped down from Naruto's shoulders and created a drawing on the ground with sticks, he drew two circles and a straight line in between them. He then drew an arc above the two

"However, once you summon us here, we can have access to the route that you just used, but only in this world. Thus, we have an access to reverse summoning you. But only if the summoner frog is in this world" Fukasaku mentioned, as he drew a line and connected the arc and the straight line.

"Why it doesn't affect your chakra usage of summoning is because of this route you just opened up, because you didn't just jump, Naruto-chan, you ripped a hole in the fabric of Time and Space and created a sort of link from this world and ours. That link connected the realm of humans as the realm of summons did. This dimension and ours connected through you and your apprentice, it was why summoning Gamabunta wasn't as taxing as it was supposed to be on you and your apprentice because of the accessed route."

"The problem lies in the fact that only you two have access to this and most likely it will stay that way. So right now, the only people who have access to high level summons from our world without burdening drawbacks are you two."

"So how do we get back?" Naruto asked, Fukasaku then suggested, "The same way you came in, however, with a different seal. That route access is the only way to get back without being marooned on some other planet since it only has two points to connect in, this world and ours."

"Revise your former seal design then we'll talk. Tsunade-chan has yet to know your status so I must inform her, you're doing well, I suppose?"

Naruto looked at his side and said, "I will be if you don't mention to baa-chan about what would have happened if I used the technique again."

Fukasaku only laughed at this and said, "Don't worry, Naruto-chan, I don't plan on telling her that, we wouldn't want our last summoner be dead prematurely by the hands of his mother figure."

"Somehow I doubt that."

* * *

To be continued…

Update! For starters, I couldn't really update a few days ago because of a busy schedule. That and I happen to have a dislike on transition arcs, winding down has never been my strong point. Though this chapter answers the questions about just reverse summoning them to get back.

Read and review people!


	11. In the Midst of the Scarlet Tempest

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Eleven: In the Midst of the Scarlet Tempest

* * *

It was morning but the sun has yet to show, as the cold blue night gave way to the orange rays yonder on the east. The drops of morning dew became present on the leaves of the trees that littered the small forest in Mahora, as it seemed to have painted the morning grounds like pastel in its gentle haze. There stood in the middle of a misty meadow, was Negi Springfield, unmoving as he had his arms raised in a cross like position, as if trying to block something. His arms and face had all been covered in dirt and grime, he had a small gash on his right arm as he panted and took in more oxygen than necessary, his legs were shaking, not from fear, but from fatigue, as it is, he could barely stand, he could barely put up an upright position right now. All he could do was breathe; as he let his muscles stiffen at the blows Naruto-nii-san had given. They had really hurt.

"Stand your ground, Negi, don't fall, the first to fall is always the loser, learn to endure. It doesn't matter if you can dish out a punch, but can you take it?"

Negi looked out to his left and saw Naruto walking towards him wearing only a pair of black jogging pants and his black rubber sandals with a frown. Naruto spoke like a true warrior, one who walked from hell and back.

"If you want to be strong, you will have to experience pain, lots of it. You will have to endure; you will have to take punishment. Physical strength is as important as it is for mental strength. That is the basic idea of chakra; body and mind go hand in hand. If you can't even last for two minutes against me, then I'm just wasting my time. I've offered help Negi, don't blow it."

As Negi saw Naruto in this light for the first time, it scared him; it also felt like Naruto was looking down on him like he should. Naruto-nii-san could be ruthless, but even he had limits as well!

"Nii-san… I'll show you just what I can do!" Negi lowered his stance, as he forced his knees to remain firm, his legs stopped shaking as Negi gritted from the pain of his legs hardening from the fatigue. Naruto simply grinned.

"That's it, show it, Negi. Show me that you can surpass what you are now. The biggest enemy to your own progress is you. If the limit of your strength is reached, then simply break that limit! Force yourself, shatter that belief from your body and stand!"

In just a matter of a second Naruto dashed and reappeared just in front of Negi and gave a thunderous punch to the poor boy's stomach, Negi coughed from the force of the impact as he was swept upwards before falling to the ground like a rock. Negi writhed in Agony as he was face first into the dirt. The boy struggled to get up as his body shook terribly from the pain.

"Get up, Negi, there are still a lot of things you need to do." Naruto commanded; standing over Negi as he looked down on to the red head, Naruto was serious. That frown he had given destroyed any form of idea that Naruto was a complete fool. Looking at that face, Negi thought he was staring in the eyes of a blue eyed demon.

"I-I can still move…" Negi stubbornly added as he forced himself to get up, Naruto gave a nod.

"Good, now you're going to run with me for ten laps around this forest, you're going to keep up with me, if you fall behind, I'll beat you with a stick until you can catch up. If you stumble, I'll kick you. If you fall, I'll step on you. This is a Sunday, so expect that you'll be with me until twelve in the morning. We will repeat this training every weekend. On weekdays you'll wake up at three in the morning and do this routine for half an hour each, after that, a spar. We'll increase your load every week to one. That means from two minutes of endurance, it will be three. For ten laps, it will be eleven. I'm not the Naruto that you know as your friend. I'm Naruto, your master every time we train, so I want no complaints. From Konohamaru, I only give incentives because he learns from me better when I give him a jutsu. But to you, who have no clear indication of chakra usage, I'll be doing things differently. Physical training is an important aspect of a warrior, Negi. And I'll teach you to be like one if you want to look for your father."

"I-I understand, please teach me, Naruto-shishou!" Negi said standing up as Naruto wordlessly began his run. Surprised by this, Negi followed suit, the speed to which Naruto travelled wasn't his maximum speed, but it was still pretty fast for a normal human. Negi tried desperately to keep up, but found it difficult as Naruto weaved through the trees like quicksilver. He slipped through them and flowed like water, whereas Negi had to stop and double-take before taking a different direction. He had, more often than not, been left behind for a few paces and was smacked on his head with a small bamboo shoot every time he fell behind. True to his word, Naruto did as what he had stipulated. He drove Negi to the ground and forced him back up again. Negi struggled to keep up every time but he didn't complain, as he was instructed to do.

By the time it was eight in the morning, Naruto had said that they take a break. Looking at the small lake near the forest, Naruto told Negi to look at the far right. Negi did as he was told and saw countless bamboo shoots standing on the small body of water, perfectly erect. Up above, Konohamaru stood by the side of the cliff as his hands were clasped together as if he was in a prayer. His eyes closed, the brunette stretched his right leg forward and stepped on a bamboo shoot, this was followed by his left stepping on another as Konohamaru performed Kata after Kata with his hands. His footwork seamlessly weaving on the bamboo shoots as he stepped precisely where he wanted them to be. All the while not looking down or even letting his eyes be open at all, Konohamaru flared his chakra ever so slightly every time he took a step, so that he can adjust his footing.

This was the training method that Enma had taught him about Senkakusha no Nehan (Nirvana of the Enlightened One) a rather difficult method if he had to say so himself. The Monkey King would not train him in the secret art unless he mastered it. The king of apes told him once that his grandfather barely passed this test in his earlier days, something which brought out anxiety and determination within the boy.

* * *

_Flashback:_

_A white, gigantic primate sat in front of him before a large body of water with countless bamboo poles erect from left to right._

"_This is your test as well as your training, young Sarutobi. If you can draw out the chakra within you to use as a stepping board on these bamboo poles, for at least ten minutes, then you'll pass the test of learning the Hijutsu of the Monkey tribe."_

_To this, Konohamaru nodded. Though he didn't see the point of this training, Ninja tend to have a lot of equilibrium as maintaining footwork was one of the most important elements in Taijutsu. All of the styles that he knew that existed in Konoha relied a lot on footwork in Taijutsu; Tekken (Iron Fist), Jyuuken (Gentle Fist) and even Naruto-nii's coordinated fighting style with his clones, all of them had absolutely emphasized the use of footwork when battling in land. So it was understandable where this is coming from the brunette._

"_Of course, you still have yet to realize that I want this to be done in fluid movement, also with the handicap of putting a blindfold on." Enma then added, the brunette simply look flabbergasted at this._

_"That's going to be difficult, if I don't see the where my foot will place, I'll fall into the water below!" Konohamaru shouted, to this, Enma grinned._

"_That's the problem with you humans; all of you perceive only what is tangible and what is presented to the five senses. Very well, I'll teach you the importance of this training." With that, Enma jumped from his position and landed on one of the poles on one foot, with his eyes closed._

"_On the first level, you were taught with the style that your grandfather uses, the fighting style involved a lithe body and as well as using gravity and the natural laws to your advantage. It prepared your body to this very moment as your second level of training. Your body has memorized what it needed to stay lithe and adaptable." The monkey king explained, as he stepped on another pole with his foot, fully as his weight was distributed among the two poles, expanding his arms and performing a Kata._

"_This exercise expels the idea of relying on the five senses too much but rather, what is in the mind as a sense of survival and using it as the tool to guide the body to the right direction. Your fight is not within what you see, but what is buried beneath reason. Reason and Instinct are the brothers of opposition; both of them work the same as yin and yang, one cannot be without the other. Many of you have forgotten that fact, you who exist as a product of nature, cannot even fathom the idea of instinct being more than just a nuisance. But together, Reason and Instinct make formidable weapons, and a person who has mastered this and balanced the two, becomes an enlightened one, one who has attained Nirvana, the peak of human potential and natural strength." As Enma said this and performed his Katas, Konohamaru looked in awe and surprise as he saw the monkey king move fluidly, as chakra weaved and arced around his body before jumping and spinning in mid air and coming down straight with a powerful punch on a rather large stone that stood ten feet, shattering from the force that Enma used._

_Konohamaru looked in awe._

"_And that is why it is called, Senkakusha no Nehan, Nirvana of the Enlightened One. The state of pure natural power, of reason and instinct, the peak of enlightenment, becoming one to the whims of nature, the teaching of the monkey tribe."_

_To this, Konohamaru looked serious for a moment as he said, "Please teach me, Enma-sama!"_

_Konohamaru bowed and followed what Enma did before and putting on his blindfold. Following his set of Katas that he had learned under the monkey tribe. At first he was blocky, unmoving and had a bit of clumsy footwork. He fell a few times to the water below and got back wet. Konohamaru growled at this and promised himself to finish this second level of training or die trying._

_For the next few days, Konohamaru recklessly trained and trained his way on the poles, and every time he tried to remember the Katas that Enma had taught him, his focus and concentration of performing the next move ended up with him falling down below in the waters. He got up every time, soaked and his confidence shaken, but he stood firm._

_A few weeks later, a tumultuous storm had raged in the homeland of the monkey tribe, they frantically went through their sturdy huts, including Enma as well. The elder ape looked around his house and found Konohamaru missing. To his worry, the ape began to think as to where the brunette would be, and thought of one place where Konohamaru would likely be present._

_The monkey king braved through the pelting rain and amidst the strong winds, jumping up and running towards the bamboo shoots where it was most likely that Konohamaru was in. Thunder echoed into the skies as lightning crackled on to the clouds. Flashing and striking so fast in the sky that it almost everyone missed it. When the old monkey made it through the cliff, he saw the brunette, hands clasped together in a prayer like trance as he remained with his blindfold on. With a stretch of his right leg, Konohamaru stepped onto the bamboo shoot without the as much as shaking. His equilibrium maintained, Konohamaru stepped on to another shoot and stretched his hands out for the first time, performing the first Kata of the fighting style that his grandfather was known for, Oodori no Saru (The Monkey's Dance). As he fluidly performed the Katas, Konohamaru had neither grimace nor concentration written in his face, as he stepped on shoot after shoot like he had memorized every bamboo in the area. Enma watched Konohamaru perform the technique fluidly in the middle of the strong gusts and rain, thunder and lightning present as Konohamaru continued his Katas once more, his hands balled into fists as his feet did every whim that it felt. When Konohamaru had reached the final moments of his katas, blue chakra began to circulate around him, dancing around the brunette like a wisp._

_Konohamaru leaned down and bowed, he jumped from his position and spun in mid-air sideways before landing on the same stone that Enma had punched earlier with Konohamaru punching the obviously smaller rock and shattering it as well._

_In lieu of this, Enma could not find the word to speak as he stared at the boy that had performed the second exercise so fluidly. With the brunette's back turned, he saw the image of Hiruzen from the brunette._

_With that, Enma grinned, the right of passage has been given._

_Flashback end

* * *

_

Konohamaru soon began performing the Katas once again, letting the chakra flow through him like a stream, dancing around him like wisps as he circled around. Negi had noticed that his golden head accessory was not placed in his head; he looked worried for a moment there, until Naruto had mentioned to him, "That tool he used earlier was a way to collect his chakra and maintain this state for extended periods of time. From what I remember of him telling me, he can maintain this form for as long as his body allows it. I've told him to take it easy today, but he just wouldn't listen, he's intent on improving himself to the point that he would likely die from the exhaustion. I've had a shadow clone watch over him and I'm prepared for another chakra infusion. I also informed Shizuna-sensei to have a spare bed ready just in case, but I think this is enough out of that brat."

Just as Konohamaru was about to finish as another wisp of chakra had appeared at his side, a Naruto clone had immediately appeared behind it. Quick to react with his eyes closed, Konohamaru ducked and sent an uppercut upwards. The clone blocked the attack with the palm of his right hand and in a quick teleportation, appeared just behind Konohamaru and knocked him unconscious with a swift chop to the neck.

Negi had a bead of sweat at the back of his head for this as Naruto looked at the clone that was dragging the unconscious Konohamaru back from his training.

"Was it really necessary to have done that?" Was all Negi could ask until Naruto simply grinned at this, "Well, I could have done it simpler, but then Konohamaru is as stubborn as an ox."

It was then that their break had ended and both of them continued their training, Naruto forced Negi to do some sit ups and push ups for change, he told Negi that a basis of a fighter is based on his physical ability, a particular style won't work on someone who is just superior in power, speed and endurance. He explained to Negi that a style is useless if isn't accompanied with a good amount of strength.

With that done, twelve in the afternoon soon came as the sun was at its peak this time, Negi was lying on the ground like a heap, while Naruto stood before him.

"Get up, Negi; we still have a spar to finish." Naruto informed, Negi, for his part, struggled to get up once more. He had never been this beaten up, not even Kotaro had been this brutal in physical contact. Naruto had specifically said that magic or any technique that is outside of physical fighting was not allowed.

The boy forced himself to get up. His body that had been trembling earlier was beginning to turn numb from the pain.

He could see Naruto's shadow cover him as the blonde covered the rays of the sun and stared down at him like how a king would stare down at its subjects.

For some reason, Negi could only stare in contempt at this.

With Asuna:

Experiencing dreams were always a bother for her. Many of the things that she tried to make sense in them always seem to slip past her mind once she wakes up, as if forgetting that the dream even happened. But somehow, in this particular dream, it was as if a fragment of her had been found, a piece of the puzzle that became complete. She couldn't explain it right now, but the idea of it being a part of her made her shiver for some reason. A feeling of dread washed over her as she tried to recall it.

The girl looked around and found Negi to be nowhere in sight, she went down from her bed and stretched for a bit. It was then that Ayaka, Kazumi and Natsumi had barged in to their door looking for Negi. Finding the boy nowhere in sight, the school president turned to the occupant of the house and asked, "Where's Negi-sensei?"

Asuna shrugged at this, "Beats me, I just woke up."

"Asuna, its midday, how come you have to wake up in the middle of the afternoon?" Asakura asked to her, Asuna simply shouted at her, "What's wrong with that?"

It was then that another group had come barging in courtesy of the sports group under Sasaki Makie of the Gymnastics club, Ako Izumi from the Football Club, Akira Okochi from the Swimming club and Akashi Yuuna from the Basketball club.

"Negi-kun, can you come play with us, we have a break from club activities today!" Shouted the gymnast as Asuna had to hold her head and started shaking it when another group popped into their home, this time it was the cheerleading trio.

"Negi-sensei, let's go to Karaoke!" Sakurako invited, eliciting Asuna to shout at the top of her lungs, "Negi isn't here, damn it!"

The twins who were about to enter the scene quietly just walked into the house as Asuna said to them, "I don't know where Negi is but he's not here obviously! Go look for him somewhere else!"

When Konoka had arrived into their home, she looked surprised as she saw a lot of her classmates were sitting down by the living room. She looked surprised and started fretting over to make tea when Asuna asked her, "Hey, Konoka, have you seen Negi anywhere?"

Konoka simply nodded her head and said, "Negi-kun went over to Naruto-sensei's for something important, or that's what he said."

To this, the girls instantly became intrigued at this, "Come to think of it, we don't know where Naruto-sensei usually lives. He and Konohamaru-sensei usually arrive at school at the same time as we do or sometimes even earlier."

The one that said this was Madoka, the girls seemed to nod at this, Misa then suggested with an enthusiastic tone, "Alright, girls, why don't we all go look for Naruto-sensei and Negi-sensei?"

The girls who weren't occupants within the room raised their hands in approval. Makie looked at Konoka and asked, "So where does Naruto-sensei live?"

Konoka pointed out the direction to where the teachers usually live. Most likely saying that all the teachers had living quarters there. Asuna looked incredulous at this as it seems that Negi wasn't informed that there were vacant spots in the teachers' living quarters! Negi could have moved out anytime he wished!

So with that in mind, Asuna just had to see the teachers just for this. She was going to ask the duo why they haven't taken Negi in yet, and she'll find out one way or another!

The girls quickly left as soon as they found the directions. All of them had differing purposes as to why they were visiting.

Once they made it to the designated area, the girls began looking for the designated house, they found it but discovered that neither Naruto nor Konohamaru were present at the moment. With a sigh, the girls were about to leave when they heard grunts and yells coming from behind the house.

"Don't stop, Negi! If you do, you'll taste my stick again!"

"That sounds like Naruto-sensei!" Madoka exclaimed, as did the others, Ayaka had to ask though, "But what is he doing with Negi-sensei?"

"Yah!" Negi yelled as if he was about to go for something.

"What was that? That doesn't sound like letting it all out, kid! If you want a go, here's how you do it!"

"OOOORRRAAA!" They heard a loud grunt coming from Negi. The girls listened intently with their ears twitching. They looked at each other and asked, not one to take lessons to heart in judging for the first five minutes, Madoka had exclaimed.

"C-Could it be? Could it be that Naruto-sensei and Negi-sensei are doing 'it'?"

All of the girls blushed but Ayaka and Asuna, the opposite of Sakurako, who had learned from what the trio had done a day before the trip, shook her head in vigor as she thought of Negi-sensei doing it with another boy was impossible!

"What the hell are you perverts thinking? Negi and Naruto aren't like that! Negi is as pure as a white sheet of paper while Naruto's as masculine as they come! It'd be when pigs fly if ever Naruto decides to consider Negi fair game!" Asuna reasoned, in her own way, it was the truth.

Yet, strangely, it was giving her a blush on her cheeks as she thought of the scenario. She drooled and her nose bleed like a faucet left open. It was then that they heard a loud thwack coming from the back of the house

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Naruto-nii, that thing really hurts"

"It'll hurt more if I shove this down your throat! What did I say earlier about complaining?"

"That I shouldn't complain."

It was then that they heard a new voice between the two, "DAMN YOU, NARUTO-NII! YOU DIDN'T EVEN LET ME FINISH! I WAS CLOSE, SO CLOSE, DAMN IT! YOU SAID YOU'D LET ME DO IT LIGHTLY"

"No can do, Konohamaru, you're still recovering, you should just sit down and watch."

"Not like I'd have a choice in it, seeing as I'm tied up."

When the girls heard this, they just HAD to see what was really happening to the trio, it could have been one hell of a misunderstanding that came from Haruna's books, but hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

What they saw was Negi, jumping at a shirtless Naruto with his hands reeled back and aimed for a punch at the blonde, who simply parried the blow with his left elbow. The blonde then spun around, picking up dust with his right foot using his left heel as an axel and drove a backhanded fist straight to Negi's cheek, sending the boy flying away from him.

"Get this through your head Negi, the one who attacks faster is usually the first one to follow through with the attack, and since you've been pitiful in base, you're usually the slower out of the two of us." Naruto mentioned as he approached Negi slowly, his hands were balled into fists to the side.

The wind blew as his hair danced into the wind, Negi looking up at his teacher who looked at him with a frown.

"Negi, I take it back, you're too soft to be on the frontlines, I can't risk you being placed upfront. Until you can land a hit on me, we won't have much of a spar. At this rate, you'll die from my hands." He said those words with not much remorse, Naruto warned Negi, and this was the first time he had been threatened by the blonde. Something he was compelled to comply with. Negi stood up, as his legs felt like jelly, they were shaking from both fear and fatigue. Naruto simply stood before him, as he said to the blonde, "I won't let this training go to waste, nii-san. I'll do everything to become stronger!"

With that, his knees buckled and fell down on the grassy meadow that he stood on. The full onset of Fatigue finally hit Negi hard.

When he was next to Negi, Naruto instantly heard footsteps coming his way, ducking out of the attack's trajectory, he saw Asuna pass him by with a straight flying kick before landing just behind Negi, who was down for the count.

"Just what the hell is wrong with you that you beat a kid up to the point that he's almost half dead?" The girl exclaimed as Naruto looked at her with a frown.

"Asuna-san… Don't." Negi commanded as he tried to stand, his feet still shaking from the fatigue.

"This is training." Was all the red head could say before launching himself towards the boy once more who jumped back and smashed his fist on Negi's stomach with an uppercut. Negi coughed violently as Naruto simply threw him away like a ragdoll.

"Well I got to admit Negi; I admire your courage to stand up." Naruto mentioned as he then squatted down to Negi's level.

"You remind me of a certain someone who refused to give up a fight. Don't ever lose that attitude." With that, Naruto simply walked away from the area and went over to Konohamaru who said to him, "That was terribly unnecessary to push him like that, Naruto-nii."

"Konohamaru, the first time is always the hardest. This is Negi's first time to experience a fistfight this brutal. He has to experience this at some point. I don't want him getting killed with a physical strike." Naruto mentioned, turning the knots loose and freed the brunette, Naruto then tossed the redheaded boy a bottle of water and said, "You've earned it, Negi, meet me here again tomorrow for your training."

With that, Naruto simply waved off with his friend and went inside their house. The girls were all speechless.

"Wow, I never knew Naruto-sensei trained in martial arts!" Exclaimed Sakurako, Misa was looking over at Negi very much in concern as did Ayaka.

"He didn't have to go this far just to teach him, though." Misa looked down on the dirtied form of Negi who was drinking the bottled water and then finally letting his face be sprayed with it. The feeling of the cool water was a much welcomed addition to his sore body.

"H-How horrible for Negi-sensei to be treated like that, Naruto-sensei should know his limits!" Ayaka mentioned as she was about to head inside the house but was stopped when Negi instantly sat and said to the class president, "No, this is fine! As a part of training, Naruto-nii-san said that I would experience pain. He explained it to me and warned me about everything, but I still continued, he was the one who offered the deal, I only agreed. So please, it's not Naruto-nii's fault that he had to push me as hard as he did today."

Madoka, who acted as the more composed member of the trio mentioned to them, "I think I get where Naruto-sensei is going with this, 'No pain; no gain' as they say. Driving Negi to the point of fatigue looks like what he was after to let Negi-sensei surpass his limits."

To this the other girls agreed, they found Negi's situation to be a bit too compromising right now so they just left the child alone and let him rest. A moment later, Naruto re-appeared outside of their house as Negi stood on his front door and bowed.

"Thank you for training me today on physical combat, nii-san."

Naruto simply grinned at this and ruffled the boy's hair.

"Though you could have taken it easy with him for a moment, Negi's still a kid, you know." Asuna reminded him, Naruto simply said to the girl.

"Negi chose to train under me, I told him what he lacks and sadly, it wasn't theory that he was lacking, but practicality." Naruto informed as he continued, "People, both genius and average, learn best through experience, practicality has never been proven wrong when in a fight. Because sometimes, even if you train with countless styles, if you are in a battle at the very beginning, it would be hard if someone knows how to counter that particular style. Brawls are unappealing, of course, but a fight is a fight, you do everything to win, you will do even the dirtiest tactics in order to win."

"You sound completely ruthless there for a moment. I guess I have to ask that is how you ninjas fight?" Asuna asked him, Naruto simply nodded.

"That's right nii-san, that war you just mentioned, you never told me how it ended." Negi asked. Asuna looked curious at this as they began to walk. Negi had asked him earlier to come to a particular person's house just so that he could convince Eva to teach the redhead about magic, Naruto didn't see the point of this, by the looks of things, that girl would most likely reject Negi even more if he was there to coax Eva into teaching the boy.

"What are you talking about, Negi? What war?" Asuna asked, Naruto frowned for a moment as he looked forward, Asuna noticed this and looked like the child brought about bad memories of what happened, Naruto then said to the boy, "Well, now that you've decided to come this far, I guess I'll consider you as an adult now, if you're so sure about it. Be warned Negi, what I'm about to tell you is not for the faint of heart."

The blonde was careful not to tell anything about the Kyuubi, it was a secret meant for his village after all, there was no need to tell them anything until in due time.

* * *

_Flashback one__ year ago:_

_They have lost the war…_

_Naruto was on the ground, face first, his form was bloody as he looked over at the prone form of Killer Bee whose beast had been extracted earlier. Naruto tried to reach out to his fellow Jinchuuriki and called out his name, but he found it futile. He wasn't responding to his calls, he wasn't responding to his coarse voice that tried to rap._

"_Hey, fool, get up so we can beat the shit out of this tool."_

_No response._

_Killer Bee was dead._

"_Damn it…" Naruto swore under his breath, as he looked at the statue of the heretic path, slowly consuming the ephemeral glow of the blue chakra towards his mouth._

"_Bee… I'm sorry." Naruto muttered out loud as tears fell down his face._

"_What should you be sorry for, Naruto?" Asked the voice, Naruto looked up once more and saw Madara standing on top of the head of Gedo Mazo._

"_Killer Bee just did what he did, he was a ninja, and he knew sacrifices were to be made. In this world of hatred, only death awaits. This is a reality that you have closed your eyes from. If there is a ninja in this world, then there is death. Nothing will last in this world, nothing is forever."_

"_Shut up! If you didn't do all the things that you did, NONE of the sadness that we have been experiencing now would have ever happened!" Naruto exclaimed, looking at Madara in contempt._

"_Then would Pain never have invaded your village?" Madara asked. Naruto remained silent at this, obviously struck at the words that the masked man asked him._

"_I had nothing to do with Yahiko's death. Danzo had. Even if I didn't establish Akatsuki, Pain would still hold Konoha in contempt. No matter the case, even without me, Pain would still have destroyed your village."_

"_It's nothing worth troubling over, Naruto, that is just because it is the folly of man. We were never meant to understand one another. The only thing we do understand is that in the presence of an omnipotent being, all humans tremble and prostate themselves upon it. If they had a god that truly wanted everyone to live together, then he should have done so long before then, hadn't he? This world has no god, and there will never be one if I were to be stopped right now. With the power of the Juubi, I can end all of that suffering, I can end all of that hatred, and I will end all of the sadness that struck all of us. I will be this world's saviour!"_

"_You have no right to call yourself a saviour if you sacrificed and killed people to the top! You're no god, you're just a monster!" Naruto shouted at the man, who simply shrugged it off with a reply._

"_Perhaps to you, I am a monster. I killed your parents. I sent the fox to attack Konoha. I was the one who placed the doubt in the Uchiha clan because of that attack, therefore, the mastermind behind the massacre. But I will let history be the judge. And to me, it doesn't look like they will frown upon my idea of peace. What about you, Naruto? How do you intend to bring peace if you allow free will to reign?"_

_Naruto couldn't give an answer, Madara simply nodded, "I thought so."_

_With a clasp of his hands, Madara put on a hand seal and said, "Fuinjutsu: Genryukyuufuujin (Sealing Technique: Nine Illusionary Dragons Seal)!"_

_The blue chakra that stretched out of Gedo Mazo's mouth extended and divided into nine vectors turning to nine dragon heads that scattered about before capturing Naruto. As Madara stood above him, he said to Naruto, "__You were meant to be the sacrifice for the sake of this world. I am that one who shall bring forth a new age in humanity, while you shall lay down your life for me. As I stand on this very pillar with the dawn of the new age appearing before me, and you lay there, let me ask you this, how does it feel knowing that the sacrifice that your parents has given is wasted so pitifully in front me? How does it feel like, so close to dying, that you can still hear my voice and breath in the same presence as that of a god? How does it feel that after all these years the one that first threatened to kill you will be the same person that will kill you now? Have you come to your senses that it was inevitable fate that lead to my godhood, my immortality? You were never meant to save this world. __**I was.**__ The will of the sage of six paths lives through ME and not you. Now witness and tremble and watch as the god of this new world shapes destiny with his OWN power!"_

_With that, Naruto felt the nine dragons enter his mouth and began extracting the chakra of the nine tails from him._

"_**This is not good… Brat, you need to get up, stand your ground, and force yourself to get up! We need to survive! What about your village? What about everything that you have fought for?"**_

"_I'm trying, Kyuubi! It's just that it's too hard to even do what you suggest, I can't even access you!"_

"_**Try harder brat! F…cus… We… get… out…"**_

_Naruto, upon hearing the Kyuubi's fading voice, saw a brilliant flash of light that seemed to have surrounded his entire mindscape. Naruto looked around and saw nothing but white all around it. To his front, he saw a perfect replica of himself, with a frown and extending his hand to him._

"_Why are you…?"_

"_Your role is over now." Said the replica, Naruto shook his head._

"_No, no, no, no! Madara's still out there, I need to stop-"_

"_How can you stop him when you're dead?" The replica asked, Naruto remained stood and looked like a deer in the headlights, his expression said it all._

"_What?" He asked, the replica laid its hand down and said to him._

"_You're dead now; you don't have the power to stop him anymore. You failed." Said the replica, Naruto promptly told him, "Shut up!"_

"_But it's true, the Kyuubi's chakra, along with yours, is being siphoned into the statue. What can you do now? You don't have the power to stop him."_

_Naruto gave him the proverbial middle finger._

"_Then I'll just stop him on my own!"_

"_How do you plan to do that? You're standing motionless, you can't even access Kyuubi's chakra, and you already have no pulse." The replica told him, Naruto ignored that comment for a moment. His eyes closed and focused on gathering Natural Chakra._

"_It won't work, Natural Chakra only enters a living body, and you obviously aren't living anymore."_

"_Then I'll force myself to live!"_

"_How do you do that?"_

"_Uzumaki Naruto will never die. Not until he becomes Hokage!"_

_Outside, Madara looked down at the form of Uzumaki Naruto, floating in the middle of the gigantic blue orb his sensitive hearing had picked up that Naruto had just entered cardiac arrest. With that, he used another technique and let the full glow of the chakra of all the bijuu combined enter into his system with another seal, chakra entered to every Tenketsu point in his body, siphoning it from the statue as he saw the moon showing a huge crack at its center, followed by lines going in circles from the center to the circumference like a ripple, black comas began appearing from the center then to the outer circle as it began spinning in opposing direction to the line before it._

"_I win." Said the masked man in triumph, finally, the moment of godhood arrived! The very moment he would become its supreme ruler! Jubilation began to pour out of Madara as he remembered the countless sacrifice that he did in order to turn this moment into reality until he saw the blonde's finger flinched._

"_Impossible… His heart already stopped from beating a few seconds ago!"_

_Naruto's hands shakily clasped together to form a seal and through sheer force of will began concentrating chakra into him and Natural chakra began entering his system._

"_I… won't let you win…" Naruto mentioned very softly, his body was feeling cold, he supposed it so, after all, he just died a few minutes ago._

"_This world that faced so many hardships, so many wars, so many senseless killings… I'll protect it. What I have isn't the answer for peace, what I have is hope!"_

"_We can only do so much when we think that there isn't hope. But I don't! I hope that my friends will live through their days until they're all old and pruned, I hope to have a family and raise my own children, I hope to become Hokage someday, and I hope… That one day, people will realize that it's never too late to keep hoping!"_

"_I'll never give up. Giving up is dying, it's losing, it's never meant to give anything but lose everything. I'll only give up when it's time for me to kick the bucket! Until then, I won't ever give away the sole reason why I fought for so long!"_

_With that, Naruto went in head first into the mouth of Gedo Mazo, his eyes changing into Sage eyes that he had learned from his mentor. Madara laughed at this foolhardy decision_

"_Hahahaha! You fool! Entering into Gedo Mazo will only rip your soul apart! I gave you the privilege of dying painlessly, letting your soul move on to the afterlife. But entering Gedo Mazo will destroy your very existence!"_

_Naruto ignored him as he went inside Gedo Mazo, in there, he felt his whole body was going to be ripped apart. He cursed under his breath as he felt the chakras of all the different bijuu trying to merge together as a result._

"_If they are merging, then I'll just have to stop that." Naruto declared, as he used his trademark Kage Bunshin skill one more time and two clones popped into existence._

_He held out his right hand as the two clones began pouring chakra into it forming the pinnacle of shape and elemental manipulation. Naruto raised his hand and a Rasen Shuriken had began spinning and made a loud grinding noise._

"_I'll live. I'll live and become Hokage!"_

_The blonde then threw the overbearing shuriken below as he saw the effect of the chakra being disrupted inside Gedo Mazo. The explosion rocked through the halls as Naruto felt like he was being chocked by the chakras all around him. The streams of the energy rose upwards as Madara's visible eye grew wide at the sudden disruption that had happened._

"_The merging stopped!" Madara realized as the destruction of the moon above stopped its deformation. He looked down, and saw the chakra of the tailed beasts floating around him. With the red one enter Naruto and the purple one going inside Bee._

"_The Bijuu's chakra is returning to their hosts? Impossible!" Madara said as the remaining chakra of the bijuu began entering Madara as it searched for a new host. Without a body to be corporeal, the chakra of the bijuu transferred to somewhere traces of their chakra were present. Bee still had some in him left before he died, and compared to Madara, who has but only a small fraction of the chakra from the eight tailed host, transferred there instead. The same was said to Naruto, who still had most of the chakra of the nine tails with him._

"_W-what is this, if the extraction and transfer isn't complete then…" Madara soon realized the error of this move and felt the chakras of the conflicting bijuu start to destroy his coils inside out._

_The man yelled in pain, screeched and screamed at it, his horrifying wails filled the area as the bijuu chakra that invaded inside of him began to eat his chakra alive. Madara held his neck as he rolled around, choking him. His Sharingan eyes had burst, as bleed seeped through from his mask, the volatile concentration of chakra in his body sent his tenketsu points bursting like pimples as blood oozed out of them marking the head of Gedo Mazo with blood._

_He screamed, screamed and screamed at the top of his lungs before getting up and looking at the full moon one last time._

"_My… godhood…" He stretched his arms towards the moon, before falling from the statue head first. The resulting death churned Madara's body like a balloon, inflating it slowly before blood spewed and exploded into the air, the old man's innards falling from the sky like rain._

_Surprisingly, not a trace of any bijuu had appeared after Madara's death. There were none that had phased into view. Naruto did not know how to make of this, whereas Bee had slowly stirred awake._

"_Ow, I'm alive and kicking. That must mean Madara must be dying." Killer Bee muttered as he slowly got up, he looked at the standing form of Naruto whose back was to him as the blonde looked down._

"_It's over… It's really over…" Naruto muttered, the bags under his eyes were present as his gaze was fixated on to the destroyed statue of Gedo Mazo, and then to the unrecognizable corpse that was Madara. He should be glad however, but he just couldn't. The pitiful man that Madara was, Naruto could feel it._

_With that, Naruto let himself be driven back into unconsciousness, his will giving in to the depths of darkness._

"_**You've done well, brat. You have earned my respect."**_

_Flashback end

* * *

_

Horrified at the past that Naruto had gone through, Asuna could not help but be shocked. In all sense of the word, it was bloody, it was disturbing it was ugly and it was disgusting. Konohamaru's past might have been disturbing, but it couldn't hold a candle to this one.

In any case the girl looked at Negi who could only stare in shock.

"Naruto-nii-san, I'm sorry you had to go through such a thing." Negi apologized; Naruto simply scowled at this and flicked his forehead.

"Negi, if I wanted your apology, I would have asked for it. It wasn't your fault it happened, it happened because of a madman. Because of his ambition to become a god, he drove our world into hell. Right now we're still picking up the pieces but I imagine that it would be a long time before any war is going to happen. And by that time, I just hope that they have other ideas rather than using human sacrifices as hosts to tailed beasts."

Negi looked at Naruto who had his hands in his pockets.

"Was it your dream to end all wars, Naruto-nii-san?" Negi asked, Naruto looked at him with a Cheshire grin and said, "No, my dream was to become a man to stand on top of all, become a hero that everyone recognizes. I've already done that, obviously, so my dream right now is to live a meaningful life."

"Why is that, blondie?" Asuna asked

"Asuna, once you discover how important your life is, you'll be even more grateful that you have it. Living confirms that you're alive, that you are breathing. It makes you value it more, makes you think that everyone should value it more. You don't have to sacrifice your life just for an ideal." With that, they arrived at the cottage that Eva currently lived in. Once Naruto looked at the cottage and whistled just how quite homely it was for a hot tempered loli, the blonde thought that it was high time to tell Eva that he now knows how to get to her house and that he'll know where she usually was when she was cutting class!

"Er, Naruto, I think it would be better if you wait outside. Eva isn't exactly happy to see someone like you. No, that came out wrong, she usually isn't happy when she sees you."

Naruto simply ignored this, "Ah come on, it couldn't be that bad."

Two minutes later:

"GET OUT OF HERE, YOU SON OF A BITCH! CALL ME FLAT WILL YOU? I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT'S FLAT, MY PADDLE!"

Naruto charged through the window and broke glass as he looked up and said, "But I think that makes you charming! I swear I didn't mean that!"

"WHAT? I'LL KILL YOU!"

After a minute of calming the girl down, Naruto convinced Eva to forget the whole deal if any of them didn't talk about it. He looked at Chachamaru and apologized for breaking the window.

"You want to become my apprentice?" Evangeline asked, sitting on her bed as the allergies triggered a small sneeze. Naruto wanted to tease the girl but decided not to. There was so much one can take before the girl decided to kill him in his sleep.

"Keep dreaming, kid! No way will I be taking an apprentice!" She shouted, Naruto groaning at this and mumbling that the girl was worse than Tsunade with her grouchy tendencies. Maybe she needed her bag of prunes.

"I heard that!"

Naruto promptly shut up at that.

"But Evangeline-san, I saw for myself in Kyoto just who the person I should learn magical combat from, and I think it should be you!"

Eva paused at this for a moment and looked up, obviously contemplating after the flatteries Negi had given her. Her smile turned to sly grin as she said to Negi,

"Ho… So you were moved by that, boy? Very well, if you insist on it…"

Negi looked like he was going to jump for joy at this when Eva gave a stipulation, "However, in case you have forgotten, boy I am an evil mage, I want something in return. A compensation or an initiation before you can even be considered as one."

Evangeline extended her right foot towards Negi slowly and said, "Lick my feet. Then we'll talk about your eternal devotion to me as my slave."

Of course, Naruto knew this was somewhat of a test, he just hoped Negi would pick it up as well. He knew the brat would probably have no inhibitions about this since he was a child after all. And true to his word, Negi was actually about to do it.

It was then that Asuna had appeared at front with her Harisen and smacked Evangeline with it on her forehead, shattering her barrier.

Naruto simply looked at the interaction that occurred between the two and Asuna pointed to the blonde, "You're supposed to stop Negi, blondie, why didn't you?"

"Eh, master-apprentice thing, normally we'd demand there be stipulations in training our apprentices." He shrugged

Eva raised an eyebrow at this, "Oh? And what's your stipulation?"

"That I don't like complainers and that they'd have to show me how really good they are if they can land a hit against my shadow clone." Naruto explained.

"No, I meant, your master's." Eva asked this time, obviously, the blonde was tutored, no one these days are strong coming from a group, and they come from personally honed teachers. Naruto wasn't exactly exempted from the rule even though he was different.

"Oh, I just had to transform into a nude and sexy girl and had to invade the women's side of the baths every so often."

Eva somehow, laughed at this as Naruto shrugged. Asuna had a vein popping on her head.

"That was pretty disgusting." Asuna mentioned in distaste, whoever Naruto's master was, he was a pig.

"Yeah well, my teacher was a total pervert. He loved peeking on the women's side of the baths and wrote a lot of adult novels that sold like crazy." Naruto explained.

After a teasing from Eva to Asuna and telling her that he was falling for Negi, to which Naruto watched in mild amusement, they went out as Asuna ran away from the scene.

Once they were far enough, she remembered something she wanted to ask Naruto, "Why didn't you guys take in Negi when you had the chance?"

"Are you kidding me? Negi's ten, Asuna, he's still growing. If he was with us he'll always be on take out or with Ramen for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not that it's worrisome, but I just don't see the point of letting Negi live with the guys if he will just be living like us instead of having you girls there to mother him."

"You're being awfully dodgy on responsibility issues." Asuna told him flatly, Naruto totally lied through his teeth at this.

"No it's just that I don't really want Negi to grow up like us." Naruto mentioned as he walked away.

"Anyway, the answer is still no!"

With that, Naruto vanished in a plume of smoke.

"You know sometimes, I wonder if I could learn that teleportation that Naruto-nii-san does, I bet it would be useful every time I need to run away from the girls."

"Negi, you are simply fated to a life of being smothered until you're thirteen. By the time you're fourteen it will be a different story." Asuna mentioned, not bothering to tell the kid about anything that involved intimate relationships. That's because she was suffering from one of her own.

Asuna would be later relieved and panicked after finding out she was close to be placed on a spell because of the love potion that was imbued with the chocolates.

Asuna gave Negi a good thwack for good measure.

To be continued…

* * *

A little history for this chapter, or should I say it's a lot for both Naruto and Konohamaru. As it is, I'm not going to skip Negi's training in Kung Fu, to me, it doesn't suit Negi that he becomes freeform or a brawler like Naruto is. Like Eva said, Negi is more logical than expected, therefore, it's better for him to stick to theory and rely on it rather than being practical and improvise like Naruto or mix improvisation with art like Konohamaru.

The pactio thing is still leaving me undecided, will probably know by the end of the week if not, after Mahora Festival Arc.


	12. Bust a Move or Beat It

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Twelve: Bust A Move or Beat It.

* * *

It took a lot of things to literally scare one Uzumaki Naruto. The blonde was used to fear, he had faced death so many times that he had lost the emotion of knowing to be afraid. That and he literally died once. No use about fearing the unknown anymore.

He faced a sociopathic killer and smacked some sense into him, he beat down a genius with a single punch and defied what others were expecting of him, he stared a giant demonic fox with nine tails that was a fragment of an entity that was said to bring an apocalypse in this world, he had defeated someone who had turned his village into a giant crater, and he literally had a megalomaniac experience what it was like overloading his system with chakra.

So it was a real surprise that Naruto had the hairs on the back of his head standing on end. Like somehow, his spine was tingling out of cold fear, the kind of fear that was more or less pushed and repressed at the back of his mind rather than subduing it like all the others.

"Naruto-sensei…"

A gloomy voice, he heard a gloomy voice just now, as if a person with a lot of regrets were speaking to him, someone utterly depressed. Oh no, that wasn't emo, if it was emo, the voice would have sounded much, much more annoying, as in a voice that had that slight rage underneath all of that incessant whining. He should know so, he had gotten used to it by the time Sasuke muttered his fifth one. And although annoying, he had at least managed to put up with it for at least half a year before that prick decided to run off towards Orochimaru and shit got real three years later.

"Naruto-sensei…"

It was THAT voice again; it was totally messing with his thoughts right now. Particularly about ramen and training the red head for the next day, he FINALLY decided to turn around and face the one who was trying to grab his attention. His eyes were closed so he didn't know who the person was that kept pestering him with that gloomy voice.

"Look here, if you got a problem with me, then come out and say it! No use trying to come up behind me and telling me my name over and over again! Just get to the point, goddamn it!"

It was then that a cute light blue haired girl with red eyes had literally phased into his view, like how mist would normally collect.

'_Eh?'_ Naruto questioned internally before having that feeling of his hair at the back of his head was starting to stand on end. This feeling couldn't be anywhere near recognizable as his spine tingled from something not really worth to be excited over.

"You could see me? You can see me?" The girl questioned happily as she jumped (or floated) for joy and ran around the blonde who kept looking at her. "I'm so glad! I could finally…"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs like a little girl as he backpedalled into a lamp post. Causing said lamp post to bend over by the force of Naruto's back pedalling. He wasn't scared, just really, really, REALLY, surprised, nothing scares Uzumaki Naruto! Nothing! There was nothing that would even indicate that he was at least a bit frightened! Nope! His quivering legs were from bumping against the lamp post! Honest! But…

'_HOLY FUCKING SHIT, THAT WAS A FUCKING GHOST! IT WAS THE REAL FUCKING THING! THERE WAS A REAL FUCKING GHOST- HOLY SHIT!'  
_

Naruto was shivering at this as Sayo looked at him surprised as he was a cowering mess at the lamp post. Sayo floated closer to which the blonde leaned back further.

"You're… Scared of me, aren't you, sensei?" The girl asked, rather dejectedly as a small sliver of tear escaped from her eye.

Oh no, he was not having any of that shit here!

"Er… I'm sorry?" Naruto cautiously said.

Damn it, Naruto!

"Wah! Now I'll never make a friend! Wah!" The girl started bawling right there as Naruto looked like his conscience was slowly rearing its head. How he hated that he had a soft spot for lonely people at times, there were just times that he had to act like a complete idiot and totally ignore the fact that there were people around him who felt lonely too. Apparition of the dead or not, that soft spot was always present whenever he was within people that suffer from that loneliness. Hence, why he would pester Eva or why he would admonish Setsuna for her self isolation. This felt no different.

Feeling like a total heel, Naruto apologized properly this time, "I'm sorry! I wasn't scared or anything, just really, really surprised!"

"Liar, those legs of yours tend to say something different." The girl said as she turned her back from the blonde.

"N-Nope! I wasn't scared! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! The Shinku Arashi! The fearless man who had saved the world! I won't be scared of something as ghosts!" Naruto declared as the ghost approached him cautiously, to which the blonde slightly leaned back, but swallowed his fear.

"Really?" She asked, obviously her joy was returning for a moment as she leaned closer, Naruto nodded vigorously.

"Yay! I finally did it!" She said as she tried to glomp Naruto but only phased through, a cold chill escaped Naruto as the girl sheepishly scratched the back of her head and blushed in embarrassment.

"I-I'm sorry about that, I tend to forget that I'm a ghost and I just… I'm really sorry!" The ghost mentioned to him, Naruto just calmed down at this and took out a deep breath. There was no need to be scared anymore. With that, he grinned and said to her, "Don't mind it. I just thought it was really cute of you to do that."

The girl blushed at this and looked down. Naruto, oblivious to the reaction of the said girl, looked questioningly at the ghost before shrugging it off.

"So what's your name?" Naruto asked, it was funny that he was talking to a ghost, something that still brought a little spine chilling on his person, but nothing he couldn't handle. In fact the weirdness of the situation was completely ignored as the ghost cheerfully introduced herself with the blonde grinning at the girl's antics.

"My name is Aisaka Sayo!" She said with an enthusiastic smile as Naruto looked up for a moment and remembered that the girl had her name listed in his class record and it turned out that she was the first girl in the class roster as well! How the hell could he miss THAT?

"Ah, you're one of Negi's students. Still, why didn't I notice this sooner?" Naruto asked as he held his head with both his hands. "I can't believe that I always forget to put a check on your seat!"

"It's okay, sensei; I'm a barely noticeable person." The girl mentioned, Naruto replied somewhat subtly, "That's because you're a ghost, just until now, I never imagined that there would be a ghost in my class. It's so farfetched that this would be one of my most ridiculous experiences that I have yet to list down."

Sayo sheepishly laughed at this and said, "I'm sorry about that, sensei."

"And you're like Negi as well, don't apologize for something that isn't your fault. Okay?" Naruto mentioned, as the teacher went home, the ghost kept following him.

"Something wrong, Sayo-chan?" Naruto asked, Sayo, for the second time, blushed once more because of Naruto's words of familiarity with her.

"I-it's nothing, Naruto-sensei. I'm just glad that I finally have a friend to talk to." She admitted and blushed slightly, forcing Naruto to chuckle. "Yeah well, it's late, let's talk some other time. I'm pretty tired, Sayo-chan, we can talk tomorrow though, how's that?"

Sayo simply nodded.

* * *

The next day:

Negi had once again stumbled on the ground as he ran with Naruto in the forest. It was cold but Negi was sweating profusely. He was trying to keep up with Naruto but every time he manages to get closer, either Naruto moves faster or a tree would hinder his path. Naruto said to him that this was to train his reflexes, to react faster than normal humans would. He said to Negi that a proper reaction can mean the difference to a make or break situation. Depending on how a person follows through, a good reflex often led to a wide opening of an opponent. In Naruto's words, you strike 'where it hurts the most.'

Day two of their training and it seemed that Negi hadn't even finished half of what Naruto wanted to see yesterday. The blonde shook his head at this, were the people here physically inferior to theirs? He could have sworn the way they work out would only bring someone like Kakashi slightly winded at these exercises and that's something considering he had a big problem in stamina.

Once Negi collapsed once more on the forest floor, Naruto simply shook his head at this. "It looks like I'm approaching this the wrong way."

"What do you mean nii-san?"

"Nevermind, it's my own business about it. Go home, Negi, freshen up and take a few minutes of rest, your class comes early while mine is still before eleven in the morning. It's only four in the morning and the sun still isn't up. We're cutting this short."

"Eh, but why, nii-san?" Negi asked, Naruto simply waved him off and looked at him, "Its personal reasons. That and there's a new friend I kind of have to talk to. She's not exactly new but she's pretty persistent when she wants to talk."

"Are you talking about Aisaka-san?" Negi asked, Naruto looked surprised at this, "You can see her?"

Negi simply nodded, "Yes but she doesn't quite make herself known. She tries really hard to talk to people, but she finds it hard to communicate because of her situation."

Naruto scratched his head at this, "I kind of figured that since talking to her yesterday."

"You weren't scared of Aisaka-san?" Negi asked, incredulous at this, Naruto looked at his side and lied to the red head, "Nope. I wasn't scared. If I was scared, I'd be cowering under my blanket."

It was then that the area around suddenly grew colder as numerous will of wisps began flaring in the air as Sayo unexpectedly appeared from behind.

"AAAHHH!" Naruto jumped as he turned around and saw Sayo waving at them, Negi waved back as did Naruto although he did it hesitantly. He wasn't scared, just surprised just like yesterday.

"S-Sayo-chan, you're early. What made you think you want to meet me at this hour?"

"I was bored sensei, I don't really sleep. So I thought I'd check up on you. It seems Negi-sensei is doing well."

Far from it, actually.

"Anyway, training's over, Negi, go home."

Negi reluctantly obeyed.

When it was seven in the morning, Negi was dashing with his students as with his fellow teacher that was Konohamaru who looked like he was not even putting enough effort in it; it was impressive considering he was still recovering.

Negi turned his attention to his side when he heard the word fight. Curious, the red head saw Kuu Fei standing in the middle of the crowd as countless members from the Mahora Karate Club surrounded her. Kuu Fei simply dealt with them with very quick moves that were a mixture of aesthetic and rough. In particular, Konohamaru recognized one of the moves when Kuu Fei spun around, effectively parrying a blow before giving a strike to the nape of the neck with an open palm, he recognized because he had occasional spars with the second Hyuuga daughter of the head, Hanabi. Those strikes of hers, while deceptively soft, really hurt, they hurt worse than a punch!

"Jyuuken?" The brunette asked which didn't escape the ears of the red head.

"The Gentle Fist? What's that?" Negi asked, Konohamaru looked at the red head and said as he turned his attention back to the fight when Kuu Fei was manhandling a very big mob.

"It's a fighting style that involves using open palms, it's deceptive as at is described, "The Gentle Fist" doesn't use powerful physical attacks that involve using brute strength, they use their chakra to damage and disrupt the chakra pathways around the body, especially to those close to the heart or any internal organ because of one trait that made them highly special."

"And which was…?"

"They had a hereditary trait called the Byakugan that lets them see to a full range of nearly three-hundred and sixty degrees. That and they can see your inner organs and chakra pathways to damage you with their Jyuuken. The most dangerous part is once they get close to you, they'll disable any limb that tries to counter and go for the killing blow to a vulnerable area such as the chest or throat. The Jyuuken is so dangerous that it's considered as the number one Taijutsu style in all the Elemental countries, excluding Kawazu Kumite (Toad Kumite) and the more obscure ones that are taught by differing summon tribes." Konohamaru explained as Kuu Fei finished off most of them without even breaking a sweat.

"Weak! Aren't there any stronger people, aru?" The Chinese girl asked. Negi was already close to the girl as he looked enthusiastically.

It was an indescribable feeling for Negi; he was simply awed at the physical strength displayed by his student. It was like looking at a dance, he was so mesmerized by this kinetic show of force that he knew, somehow, that this would surely help him in his training with Naruto-nii-san! He knew from the back of his mind that this was his chance. He knew that he needed to do this. He needed to ask Kuu Fei to teach him Kung Fu.

When Konohamaru walked towards them with hands in his pockets, he asked the girl, "Hey, Kuu Fei, what kind of fighting was that; the one where you knocked the guy down with an open palm?"

"It's called Baji Chuan aru! I mean, Hakkyoku ken (Eight-Way fist based on some of my research)."

Konohamaru looked thoughtful at this as he recalled that the Hyuuga mentioned the word 'Hakke (Eight Trigrams)' in some of their techniques like Hakkeshou Kaiten (Divination Spin) or Hakke Rokujyuyonshou (Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four palms). Somehow, a much watered down version of this style existed in this dimension. What were the odds of that?

"Were you interested in my fighting skills, aru?" The Chinese girl asked, Konohamaru simply shook his head at this. "No, just curious, I fairly don't do that well in hand to hand, though I've used Bojutsu (Stick arts) for some time. You know how to fight with that?"

"Oooh, I know how to use sticks in a fight! Let's have a match some other time, Konohamaru-sensei!" The girl said as her eyes somewhat sparked in interest at this, Konohamaru had a bead of sweat at the back of his head.

'_What the hell did I just do?'_Konohamaru asked to himself as Negi asked Kuu Fei vigorously about learning Kung Fu.

It was then that a person had managed to jump behind Negi and Konohamaru. On instinct, Konohamaru simply gave a high kick and hit the man's arm who staggered back and with a simple turn, Konohamaru changed that high kick into a spinning heel kick that sent the boy skidding back and hitting the dirt forcefully as Konohamaru simply jumped and instantly appeared just above the boy.

"Huh… That was pretty damn stupid." The brunette muttered as he went away with Konohamaru.

As soon as class started, a lot more misunderstandings occurred, this time, in the form of the girls thinking Negi would ask Kuu Fei out. It ended up turning into a bowling tournament to which, Konohamaru was unintentionally dragged into as well. He didn't know what was going on or what the hell bowling was, but what the hell; a little relaxation never hurt anybody!

Ayaka had managed to tie with Kuu Fei just with sheer determination alone. But even then, the determination of one class president could not hold a candle to Baka Yellow who had managed to score strike after strike, after strike.

The brunette, who had watched the game in mild interest, simply leaned back and drank a cold glass of juice. Today he would take it easy, no pushing himself, no doing anything reckless, just him and a cold glass of orange juice. Life was great sometimes.

When the time for hanging out was over, Negi had once again asked Kuu Fei to train him in Kung Fu. To which, Kuu Fei simply agreed to do so as she looked absolutely ecstatic of the idea that she was going to be a sifu (it's like sensei in Japanese) for once!

Konohamaru simply waved him off and with that, he was gone, he already got bored.

The Next Day:

"You, what?" Naruto asked incredulously as he eyed Negi who was scratching the back of his head earlier, looking at his side as Makie looked sheepish at this.

"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you, but did you just challenge Chachamaru to a fight?" Naruto asked for reconfirmation at this, Negi nodded hesitantly and Makie did so as well. Naruto rubbed his temples at this, after a mere hour of physical exercises, the blonde left the red head to his own devices and soon quickly noticed that he was practicing a kata. He had not seen Negi perform one since his training, hell; he never even noticed that Negi was into martial arts recently.

That wasn't the source of his ire, though. In fact, he approves of it. It showed that Negi had an initiative for learning and getting strong. He liked it when things had variety. It was more interesting that way; hopefully the physical training that he had been giving Negi would be reinforced with the style he was currently using. Of course, it was not all about style as well, the blonde had forcefully put weights on the child when he noticed him doing those Katas, and he said it was to increase his speed, power and stamina. The girl who he had encountered earlier before he went away, Sasaki Makie, looked concerned as she saw Negi had his hands strapped with two iron balls and chains that hung from his wrists and leg weights strapped on his lower leg just below his knees, she saw him struggle for a few moments as Negi remained mindful of his Katas.

"I-It was a spur of the moment, Naruto-sensei. Eva-san was really pushing it and I just had to react that way…" Makie felt a small stinging pain as Naruto flicked a finger on her forehead and did so to Negi as well.

"You idiots, do you know how strong Chachamaru is on hand-to-hand combat? Even if you are studying Kenpo, Chachamaru is years ahead of you who already knew martial arts even before you decided to use it. You do realize how terribly outmatched you are, right?" Naruto asked, looking at the boy who could only laugh nervously as Makie said, "Negi-sensei won't lose!"

Naruto simply mentioned, "You're being delusional, Makie-chan. Even I can see how one-sided this match is."

Makie looked taken aback at this as Naruto simply sighed and said to Negi while scratching the back of his head, "Well, I can't say that you've been really improving by leaps and bounds. Though from what the spars tell me, you're starting to have a feel in the fight, but you still can't fight your way out of a paper bag without your magic. My only advice for doing something so stupid is to simply do your best. I've had my fair share of stupid fights on my end so I know how this particular event would be an important thing for you. Though with this training, I hope you don't plan to slack off on mine."

Negi stood indignantly at this, "Of course not!"

"Good, since I saw how hard you're working about your fighting style, and I must say I'm impressed for a beginner to be able to do that. The body doesn't quite register memory enough faster but from what I can see, it looks like you've been doing it for weeks."

"Really, nii-san?" Negi asked, his spirit was somewhat uplifted from the harsh criticism that Naruto said earlier. The blonde teacher nodded his head with a grin.

"Yes but it isn't enough for someone like Chachamaru." Naruto then flicked his right hand faster than both Negi and Makie could see. Out of his sleeve, came a kunai flying past Negi's cheek as it impaled a tree and piercing itself through it then through another before finally falling into the ground that pierced the soil in it.

Makie paled a little at this and noted how dangerously close Negi was to have his head skewered with a throwing knife.

"Take note, Negi; imagine that throwing knife as Chachamaru's attack speed. You didn't have enough proper reaction time as to evade that or even parry it. If it was Chachamaru, she would have ducked at that, hit or miss and went straight for a counter attack." Naruto mentioned, to which Negi reiterated, "But you didn't have any indication to attack nii-san! I was really surprised!"

Naruto grinned at this as he stood up on the ground and said to Negi, "Negi, that was a surprise attack in a moment's notice, a battle could end just like that."

Naruto snapped his fingers to prove his point. He then said to Negi, "No matter how strong one's opponent is, if that surprise attack staggers him, don't stop."

Negi frowned at this, was this some sort of advice for his upcoming test to become Evangeline's apprentice? Naruto had been giving him tidbits of battlefield know how for the last two days, and for the most part, although he could understand the mechanics, implementing them the way he was now was close to impossible. He wasn't physically conditioned for such things as compared to Konohamaru or Naruto.

The blonde was trying to correct that by conditioning his body to make him last longer and possibly make him go faster and react much more in sync to what his mind can process.

Sadly, as Naruto pointed out, his body was still trying to get used to the idea of it. He needed a much faster way to go around with it. If his magic was an indication it could surely help. The extent of infusing himself with his magic lengthened slightly. He noticed it earlier when he was alone practicing his Katas, he could feel a slight shift of power of his magic as if it was easier to handle. Was it a side effect of the physical training that Naruto had given him?

It was possible he suffers fatigue whenever he overuses his magical powers. Physical fatigue at that, therefore it COULD be possible that increasing one's physical resistance increases one's magic pool. He looked at his peer who was giving off an undignified yawn and going away with a wave. Negi couldn't help but feel that somehow, Naruto may have been on the right track.

So with that, the redhead went back to his training as Naruto grabbed his notebook and started doodling.

By the next two days, many of the girls knew that this was Negi's judgement day under Eva's regulation. As promised of the due date, Negi appeared on time just as when Eva was waiting with a small but noticeable smirk around her. Naruto simply let out a cheeky grin of his own and asked her, "Why are you smiling, Eva-chan? Is there something funny?"

"Oh, there IS, just the fact that your way of training Negi is not meant for a mage like him."

Naruto simply waved it off; he knew that there was a subtle form of insult in his person about being an incompetent teacher.

"We'll see about that, now, won't we?" Naruto asked with that grin plastered on his face right now, Konohamaru was simply glaring at the blonde girl with his hands in his pockets.

Eva simply scoffed and said to Negi with that grin of hers, "Alright, boy, here's my test. If you can properly land a hit on Chachamaru even once, I'll consider you my apprentice, if you can't then tough luck."

Negi simply nodded at this as Makie and the other girls cheered for Negi while Asuna looked undoubtedly concerned. Naruto simply assured her, "I don't know how to say this as I don't think its right to give a false hope, but you'll have to trust him to do his best."

Asuna looked at the blonde who was a few inches taller than her as she said, "But the brat isn't good in fighting closely! He'll get massacred!"

Naruto simply looked down on her with a frown and said, "Negi's my student, Asuna. And although I can see his faults, when it comes to him fighting, he's applying what I thought to him, even if they are fresh, or that if Negi still doesn't have enough experience with putting my advices to practice, my only choice is to put my faith in him. It's not only Negi's apprenticeship that is at stake here, it's also my pride as a teacher. And I'm insulted just how much you underestimate my work like that."

"Negi's only been training under you for the past three days, he told me he was improving his physical strength by training with you to help him last longer at close range! It's impossible for him to absorb whatever advice you try to give Negi in just a span of three days.!" Asuna replied, looking up at Naruto with a scowl of her own.

"Don't take him so lightly, Asuna. Negi is like a sponge, he absorbs anything that he knows is of great importance. Don't downplay Negi like that, it's demeaning to him." Konohamaru was the one to answer for Naruto, the orange haired girl turned her head back to the fight.

"I don't care, we need to stop this. Negi's still a kid!" Asuna defended, this time, it was Makie that was the one to stop her, "Don't! Even though Negi-sensei looks like a child, the fact that he's already decided to go this far, shows how adult like he is!"

"Makie…"

"Negi-sensei already decided on this, right? He was prepared! So it's only right that we don't interfere with what he is about to go through!"

When the fight had begun, Negi immediately stepped forward leaving a trail of dust at his wake. Chachamaru followed suit extending her right hand towards the boy's forehead to flick it. Negi, who had suddenly seen the move, back pedalled slightly and leaned on his side. On reaction Chachamaru spun around, Negi tried to grab Chachamaru's extended arm but failed to do so as the cyborg's arm ad hit him on his side. Instantly feeling the impact, Negi rolled on the ground a few meters away from Chachamaru and quickly got up.

"Oh? I could have sworn one hit was enough to put you down, boy." Eva commented, her interest slowly piqued in.

"Surprised, Eva-chan? I should let you know that when I trained Negi in physical combat, I had him endure entire punches to the chest and shoulders, the back and his stomach. And if Chachamaru's attacks were any indication, it was weaker than what I dished out." Naruto interjected. It was then that Negi took a stance common in Kung Fu, his hands cuffed into fists as his right foot was placed forward. Negi raised then raised his right leg as he placed his left fist just in front of his forehead and his right hand tucked near his abdomen. When Chachamaru went to attack him once more, Negi instantly stepped forward, extending his arms in their adjacent positions into a punch. Chachamaru instantly blocked the first attack and Negi quickly grabbed Chachamaru by the arm and slipped his left foot below putting the cyborg off balance as she extended her free hand to the ground and never landed like Negi intended to do, with a start, Negi took a step back and lowered himself while bending his right knee forward as he tried to block a kick from Chachamaru.

When Chachamaru's leg connected to the child-teacher, Negi was brought back by a few metres as he skidded on the ground as dust had spread under his feet. Negi then dashed forward with not much of a warning as he went for a punch on Chachamaru's face when he leapt, the girl simply tilted her head to the side and allowed Negi's fist to sail through her with Negi only hitting air. It was then that Chachamaru instantly reacted and grabbed Negi by his wrist with a little boost from her free arm, she flipped Negi upwards. The child teacher was thoroughly surprised at this as he was suddenly thrust into a loop, before he felt he was falling on his back. In response, Negi adjusted his body before hitting the ground and landed on his feet. When he looked to where Chachamaru was, Negi could not find any trace of the girl anywhere and was suddenly flung away from his place from a vicious kick from Chachamaru who was in midair.

So rattled was Negi that when he landed, he got up and shook his head as blood dripped from his mouth and forehead. He looked up to Evangeline who was frowning throughout the whole fight.

"Give it up boy, you're severely outclassed. For an upstart, it was impressive but a combat specialist like Chachamaru would win over you anytime. It would only be a losing battle from here on." Evangeline mentioned as Naruto smirked at this as he said to the girl with a small chuckle.

"Eva-chan, you severely underestimate Negi. He still hasn't lost yet." Naruto interjected, the child looking vampire simply scowled at this as she replied, "You don't seem to see the condition that the boy is in right now. As of this moment, he could barely stand."

The vampire pointed to Negi whose legs were shaking from the fatigue, and was breathing heavily from the mouth. He was indeed tired but his eyes were showing fierce determination like no other, like a cornered lion who was ready to bare his fangs. Naruto's perpetual grin ever present, changed into a small fit of laughter before he could reply at the girl.

"That's where you are wrong Eva-chan. Remember what your stipulation was in this match?"

The girl scowled at him, "But it's an impossible feat for Negi to even go for a glancing blow."

"No, I meant, your stipulation had a loophole that only a very few select of people can see it." Naruto then turned and looked at Negi who gave a small smile as he said, "That there were no other conditions than to hit Chachamaru-san. It means no time limit, no problem with getting a knock out, as long as I manage to land a hit even if I die."

Eva turned pale at this as she looked back at Naruto who had his hands at the back of his head.

"That is how people who are cornered and desperate to find solutions think. Normally, under any circumstance a normal person would just quit from a fight. But those that don't know the meaning of the phrase, 'give up' would try and find a way to win, stipulation be damned."

Naruto's cheeky grin then turned to a wicked smirk.

"Besides, it's the basics which counts here, no matter the style, in close range fighting, there are three pillars that makes a good fighter and those are power, speed and technique."

As he said this, Negi was on it yet again, launching himself at Chachamaru wit a leap and aimed for a punch towards the girl's abdomen, Chachamaru quickly used Negi's outstretched hand as leverage with her hands and literally flipped in mid-air before giving Negi a kick to the face and slid back while his feet was skidding on the ground before falling down. Evangeline grinned at this, "As you can see, the boy loses in all categories of what you just said, Chachamaru has a calibrated strength enough to crush rocks, speed that exceeds an Olympic runner, and technique coming from different martial arts around the world as well as a vast array of weapons. If anything, you're the one who is underestimating Chachamaru. She has all of those advantages with Negi falling short even on his own forte."

"You really think that, Eva-chan? Because the way I see it, Negi might just pull an upset through one thing."

"And what is that?"

It was then that Negi had suddenly appeared from Chachamaru's back as she headed back to Eva. Quickly turning around, Chachamaru saw that Negi had created a wind clone that dissipated with a swing of her arm but not before feeling something hitting her chin.

Out of the stream of wind, Negi had connected his fist through Chachamaru's lower chin that only manage to put a scratch but was enough for everyone to see. Negi landed on the ground haphazardly and tried to stand before his knees buckled and fell down on the ground on his butt.

"There's your answer, Eva-chan." Said the blonde before giving off that smirk of his, obviously gloating at the vampire.

"That is what Negi has, determination and guts. He'll never give up, that's just who Negi is." Naruto said and Eva clicked her tongue in disappointment as she turned around.

"Fine, he wins, that was the mentioned stipulation, correct? A mage, no matter the standing must learn to keep their word. Come back here within three days, boy. You're my apprentice in magic from now on." Eva mentioned as she turned her back from the group. It was then that she looked back at the jubilant group and said to the red head, "And whatever close-combat technique you are learning, keep at it. I could see vague traces of Kung Fu in your style; it suits one as logical as you."

With that she went away, grabbing a small doll like puppet in her hands and putting it under Chachamaru's care.

Everyone of the girls except for Asuna cheered for Negi as the said girl sighed in relief and looked at the shinobi duo before scowling and said, "You knew Negi was going to win from the start didn't you?"

Naruto shook his head as did Konohamaru, "Nope, I honestly thought Negi would be eaten alive back there."

"THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF YOUR ARGUMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE?" Asuna roared, Naruto simply shrugged at this and said this with a smile, "I didn't want to lose, especially against Eva-chan! If I lost I would have to be not hearing the end of it coming from her!"

Asuna looked at the brunette who sighed and waved his hand and gestured to not mind it anymore. The girl wanted to strangle Naruto so much because of that stupid reason, he could have put a stop when Negi was already bleeding, damn it!

"Oh, don't let it bother you anymore, Kagurazaka, take it from someone who has known Naruto-nii for half a decade and let it go. You won't ever get him to see your way."

Asuna still scowled at the blonde and decided to give up and turned her back from it.

"Asuna." Naruto called out her attention seriously, the girl turned around and glared at Naruto as the blonde said, "You may think that it was a rather stupid thing to do. But you have to know this now."

Naruto's frown deepened and turned into a scowl, "Don't hold Negi back."

With that, the blonde disappeared with a swirl of leaves as did Konohamaru, intent on retiring for the night.

What would Naruto mean by that? Any case, she didn't want to think about this now, all that she could do was look at Negi with a smile and acknowledge what Makie had just said. Negi was an adult now, however, she also dreaded at what Naruto said, could it be that she was the one that was holding Negi back?

What an irony that was!

* * *

After a night's full rest, Konohamaru could feel his chakra pool replenishing more than fifty percent now. A few good accesses to a couple of Jutsu were now available for him to use. The brunette groaned however, at the thought how difficult it was in suffering chakra exhaustion. Everything was quite sluggish and left his muscles in agony. Although chakra can be replenished, it took longer to obtain his optimal level when chakra exhaustion occurs. From what he can surmise, replenishing chakra with reserves still left was no problem; the problem was chakra being replenished for near empty reserves.

As the brunette made his way towards the female dorms building, Konohamaru saw the robotic girl, hesitantly going back and forth in the building.

"Ah, Chachamaru, what are you doing here?" Konohamaru asked, curiously as the girl said in her monotone, "I merely wish to apologize to Negi-sensei for what I did yesterday. It was… Terribly uncalled for me to impart injuries like that."

Konohamaru shook his head, "Well, whatever, I don't see the point of you apologizing to Negi when they said you shouldn't have technically held back."

"But Negi-sensei was terribly injured and…"

"Chachamaru, remember when we were at Kyoto?" Konohamaru had suddenly interjected as he said to the cyborg, "Negi suffered worse injuries there than he had here. Heck he almost died in trying to beat someone who he knew he was no match."

"Perhaps, but still…" The girl said rather stubbornly. Konohamaru simply hear the end of it.

"What about you, sensei, what are you doing?" The cyborg asked, Konohamaru simply shrugged, "I wanted to clarify some things with Asuna during last night's events. I suppose she was terribly pissed at us because of those sentences Naruto-nii left. That or she's feeling really depressed right now."

Once they made their way towards the dorm room, Chachamaru softly knocked on the door as they both waited for someone to answer the door. When Asuna opened the door, Chachamaru was quick to apologize to Negi for what happened and Konohamaru simply waved and apologized to Asuna, "Sorry about yesterday Asuna, but Naruto-nii has a point."

"That I'm holding Negi back?" She asked, half heartedly as she had her back towards Konohamaru who frowned at the gesture.

"No, it's not about that, what Naruto-nii meant was that you should stop treating Negi like a kid." Konohamaru mentioned, as Asuna turned around and shouted, "Then why the hell should he tell that to me?"

"It's because it's the best way to say so. You wouldn't listen when Naruto-nii said that Negi was determined for his cause and that you were insulting his pride as someone who is determined to finish his goal."

"You're right, I wouldn't listen. But what good is pride anyway if you're dead?" Asuna asked for once, Konohamaru gave an answer. "It's insulting for someone like Naruto-nii for his abilities to be downplayed like that. He worked hard at it, Asuna, the same way Negi is working hard to earn his strength. If I were to insult your job in delivering papers, how would you feel?"

"I'd be angry." She answered as she continued, "It's the only way for me to earn money and buy nice things for me, I don't have parents and the owner was kind enough to hire me just because I need the money."

"The same way as to how Naruto-nii was taught by his sensei who was considerate enough to give him lessons." Konohamaru mentioned as Asuna looked down at it. Thinking about it now, it was indeed rather insensitive of her to be that way.

"You see how pride is such a big deal for someone like Naruto-nii? Even though he says rank and titles have no meaning, he takes pride in his feats. He's done things that would normally take people years to accomplish, to which people would think of eventually as legendary. And he did it all with a lot of pain and sacrifice on his part. That's why he said those things Asuna. To him, you're insulting his work, his pride. You understand now why Naruto-nii said those words?"

"Yeah, somehow, I got it." Asuna said as she went to walk away, in more ways than one, she realized, that she and Naruto were a lot alike.

Konohamaru simply nodded at this, as he gave a small grin at that and turned back towards Negi who had gauze and a small stain of an iodine solution under the said object. The boy was eagerly awaiting tea that Chachamaru had offered earlier.

It was then that Makie and Ako had intruded their premises with a grin on her face as she shouted that she was accepted.

Naturally, being the PE instructor of the school, he knew what Makie was talking about. Of course, he couldn't understand the nature behind the sports of gymnastics as it was not something common in his world, but he knew that it was a competition of sorts, like how people present Katas to audiences. The only sport he knew was tournament fighting in the form of the Chuunin exam, though there was one sport in the Capitol that had caught his attention, he had seen Izumi play it but didn't know the name of the sport. Naruto mentioned something about 'kick ball' but he knew it wasn't that, it was just Naruto coming up with ridiculous names again.

When Ako mentioned to him it was football, he was actually very intrigued by the sport, he was fascinated by it by the first time he had seen it.

His thoughts were suddenly derailed when he saw Ayase Yue speaking by the front door and asking for Negi to speak with her privately. Of course, Konohamaru thought the whole thing was serious and that parchment that Yue had in her hands was the evidence that he needed.

The brunette then leaned to the corner when Yue spoke to Negi in a calculated tone.

"You wish to know the whereabouts of your father, isn't that correct, Negi-sensei?" Yue asked, Negi nodded rather enthusiastically at this. Yue had shown him the obvious clue on the map in the form of a rather crude drawing, Negi felt like hitting himself in the face for letting it pass over his head while Konohamaru was snickering by the corner. Things got terribly serious when Yue had asked for him to take them along in the said place and asked the teacher about Naruto and Konohamaru.

The red head took a deep breath, he was busted and had no way out of the hole as he just decided to tell them later and got back into the dorms.

Konohamaru, who had been silently leaning against the wall, went by unnoticed to Negi who ran back inside and said to Yue while he remained unmoving.

"You're pretty sharp, Ayase, I never thought you had it in you to be this deductive."

"Konohamaru-sensei? I didn't even notice you." Yue had said, not even looking at Konohamaru who had his hands in his pockets.

"You weren't supposed to. It's how we move. You can take a guess as to what we are." He replied as he stood upright from the wall and said to Yue, "And I'm not exactly a mage either."

Yue looked to her side and looked at Konohamaru straight in the eyes, scarlet ones met hazelnut browns. "I take it you're a ninja."

Konohamaru simply grinned, "Right you are, Ayase, I guess I can't hide everything from you."

"I don't study simply because I find structured lectures boring and unimaginative. But it doesn't mean that I'm stupid, it just means I find real life rather, perplexingly stale." She answered, the girl behind her, Nodoka, simply remained quiet as Konohamaru gave a small laugh.

"I guess. Being a kid back then, I thought being a ninja was all about saving damsels and going at it simply because it was exciting and had a bit of romance in it. I was dead wrong when I found out our first missions involved painting a fence and catching pets from hell."

Yue seemed to raise an eyebrow at this, to her, it sounded exactly like…

"Being a ninja doesn't excuse you from chores, Konohamaru-sensei?" Nodoka asked, Konohamaru nodded and went back.

When Konohamaru was about to explain, Yue's cell phone rang loudly and the girl picked it up. When she answered the phone, she nodded her head with a sly grin and said to Konohamaru, "Look's like someone is trying to go the designated place on the map all on his own."

Konohamaru scowled at this.

Negi, that idiot.

* * *

To be continued…

Not much to say but a chapter done! RnR people!


	13. Taking a Break

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Thirteen: Taking a Break

* * *

Konohamaru grit his teeth, he didn't like where this was going.

**ROAR!**

Apparently, the place that they had gone into was guarded by a near mystical beast that rampaged its way towards them. It was a good thing that Chachamaru was able to save Negi and the others. Apparently, a lot of them couldn't take the squiggly drawing of a dragon seriously as a warning.

The dragon trashed about as he chased after Konohamaru who was beginning to scale the walls.

About that, "WHO THE HELL WOULD TAKE A KID'S DRAWING AS A WARNING SERIOUSLY?"

Konohamaru shouted as he dodged another thrust of the dragon's left forearm before racing upwards. Even with Shunshin no Jutsu, that thing can still catch up! If only he had flight capabilities like Negi or heck even Setsuna!

With a grunt of annoyance as he dodged another claw strike, Konohamaru began weaving his hand in four seals and ending it in Dragon, chakra began collecting at the tip of his index finger as wind began to build up around him as he ran upwards. Negi and the others was now most likely safe. He was so close to the exit and the dragon was getting starting to keep up with him. With a grit of his teeth, he let his chakra flow stop from his feet as his right index finger collected enough concentrated wind chakra and flipped in midair, facing that dragon while pointing his index finger straight towards the dragon.

"Fuuton: Ichuu no Kaze (Wind Release: Point of Winds)"

Konohamaru shouted as he let go of that powerful gust of wind jutsu, blowing the dragon slightly downwards before it lost its balance and falling once more to where it came from, but not before shooting Konohamaru up due to his proximity to the beast and the recoil, sending the ninja flying straight upwards at a powerful velocity.

The brunette grinned for one moment as he finally got away from that bastard, now the problem was his landing.

He looked down and saw that he was slowly losing velocity and was reaching the peak of his jump. It was then that he started to freefall, feeling the wind rushing past his face as he descended like a bomb. Konohamaru was about to do Domu (Earth Spear) as a means to protect himself while he descended, but once he reached for the third seal, he felt that his chakra coils were starting to ache.

Oh how could he forget? He was still recovering from chakra exhaustion and that last jutsu he did just shot his chakra reserves back to one tenth of what it originally was.

As he neared towards the hard ground, Konohamaru just hoped it would be a painless fall and not worry about anything else.

Fortunately for him, he was saved by the form of his master who grabbed him by the collar and landed safely on the tree branch.

"You really like pushing yourself to the point of death, do you, stupid apprentice?" Naruto asked, as he placed Konohamaru down on the tree branch, Konohamaru didn't answer and sighed in relief as he felt that he was still alive.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Asked the brunette, Naruto simply grinned, "A cute girl tipped me off."

By cute girl, he meant Chachamaru, most probably.

"I need more training." Konohamaru mentioned as Naruto shrugged. If that's what he wanted then, who was he to deny him of that right?

Naruto bit his thumb and smeared the blood from it to his palm. He began weaving through five seals with his hands and stopped with seal of the ram. Once he was done, he slammed his hand on the ground and performed a summoning.

A large plume of smoke covered Naruto and Konohamaru as they were now on the ground when Gamakichi had suddenly appeared between them.

"Kichi, take us east, would you? I need to train sulking boy over here." Naruto pointed to Konohamaru who glared at his master.

"I do not sulk." He answered to which Naruto simply rolled his eyes out of disbelief. Gamakichi who noticed Konohamaru had been looking down with his arms crossed, begged to differ.

"Yeah, you do, Konohamaru, you need to loosen up. People get strong at their own pace." Gamakichi mentioned wisely to which Konohamaru scoffed at.

"Then teach me Senjutsu." Konohamaru said to Naruto, to which the blonde narrowed his eyes towards the brunette and shook his head.

"No. You have a different style, Senjutsu doesn't suit you. If it did, I would have brought you to Fukasaku-sensei and Shima-sensei earlier. You are not learning Senjutsu and that's final." Naruto stood up sternly looking at his apprentice.

"Then how am I supposed to reach the top with just this?" Konohamaru asked. Naruto scowled at this, "Konohamaru, I got to the top because of countless trials. I don't want you experiencing what I did. The reason why I studied Senjutsu was because of Ero-sennin and to prepare for the battle against Pain. You should know that more than ever, it was born out of necessity. To me, it isn't necessary for you to learn Senjutsu."

"And I find it necessary to grow stronger!" Konohamaru mentioned, Naruto then smacked Konohamaru upside the head.

"You idiot, one reason why I don't want you to learn Senjutsu is because of that attitude. You can't obtain it because you want to, you don't need to. If you want to be strong; then learn from the Raikage or Gai, they made it out without the power of a bijuu or a kekkei genkai. That is already more than a testament, Konohamaru, learn from them."

That kept Konohamaru quiet for a moment as Naruto grabbed him by his collar and sat him down on Gamakichi near his side. He then noticed a small trickle of blood flowing from Konohamaru's right index finger.

"That's quite ingenious of you to use Ichuu no Kaze as a boost. Though I have to say that you still have ways to go before you can properly use Wind Chakra, I'm sure you'll get there in time." Naruto complimented his apprentice grabbing Konohamaru's bleeding finger and looked at it rather seriously. Konohamaru looked at Naruto due to that compliment.

With that, the brunette became quiet as Gamakichi hopped into the east as Konohamaru contemplated about what Naruto said.

* * *

The next day:

Evangeline stood before four girls at the middle and Negi all the way back while Makie and Kuu Fei watched. With a bored expression, Eva yawned for a second before finally raising her hand, "Ok, let's begin."

The vampire then pointed to Setsuna, "Setsuna, repress your ki. Ki and magic will only conflict without any compatibility here."

Setsuna did as she was instructed.

"YOSH! Konohamaru! Today's training method number three hundred and seventy two!"

That loud and ear piercing scream brought Evangeline out of her drowsy disposition as she immediately scowled when she recognized the voice.

"What are you doing here?" Eva asked as she looked at Naruto who just arrived and looked at the group while they saw Konohamaru running around with multiple tires dragging on his back while wearing a lot of weights on his arms and legs. Both of them were wearing their shinobi attire.

Naruto simply grinned, "Oh, just another training method with me and my apprentice."

Konoka was looking rather intently at Konohamaru who continued to run back and forth throughout the clearing with a determined look on his face.

"Wow, Konohamaru-sensei is so dedicated to his training. I never saw him so determined." The brunette commented, to which Setsuna gave a nod

"You mean you like to run your apprentice to the ground as well?" Evangeline asked as she looked at the blonde's apprentice.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, "No, this is just a warm up for him, if I wanted to literally run him to the ground, I would have to give a full hands on training in combat. But with my techniques, I wouldn't count on it. All of them except for one start at lethal and it just continues from there."

Eva had a raised eyebrow at this; she wanted to see just how this idiot manages to tick. A little demonstration would have been nice.

As if reading her mind, Naruto held his right arm up and pointed his index finger away from them and his thumb erect as he would like a gun. "This is just a simple jutsu that I managed to create from scratch. But I can't use it in training since it's too dangerous, it's probably only forty or thirty percent of what I can do."

With a single hand seal, Naruto gathered wind chakra at his outstretched index finger and compressed to the point of instability. All around him, the winds danced and howled as the girls had to hold their skirts to not let any of the boys see what lies underneath.

"This is just a simple jutsu I revised from one of my most powerful techniques. Gathering enough chakra at a single point and firing it at long distances. It's the only jutsu that I can use for long distance combat without relying on my deadlier version of it. Daitoppa is good for mid range, this, however, is far more useful in long range, but compared to Daitoppa, this is flashier." Naruto demonstrated as he then let go of the compressed wind chakra as he braced his feet for impact by applying chakra there.

**BOOM!**

**WHOOSH!**

Within a single second, they heard a loud boom as Naruto's right arm reared back from the recoil as the jutsu approached near supersonic speeds, the wind blasting and surging through the trees like a storm as it went and began ruffling all the foliage in its path. The trail of dust and debris was near two meters wide and four meters high as it surged throughout the forest and the trees that stood in its path were severely cut to ribbons only leaving stumps of what they used to be. All the while, Naruto maintained his stance.

Everyone had their jaws dropped at that spectacle except for Konohamaru who was sitting by the side, a mere few centimetres away from the blast. He looked pale as he sweated more from the hapless attack by the blonde than he did exercising. Konohamaru glared at the blonde at this as said blonde was looking away.

"T-THAT WAS OVERKILL!" Asuna remarked rather loudly, to which Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and said, "Really? It's not really THAT awesome. I've got stronger jutsu than that. Like that technique I did back in Kyoto."

Yue remembered most of it. That fire breathing frog that turned a firestorm into a pillar of hell flames because of a strange power that Naruto-sensei used was not something she could forget so easily.

Eva was the last to recover immediately as she shook her head and readied her student again. Once she could feel Setsuna's ki was down to a satisfying level, Eva began barking orders.

"Brat, I want you to invoke the contract to all of your minister magi, do it now."

Negi complied, "Activate the contract for one hundred eighty seconds for the disciples of Negi Springfield; Asuna Kagurazaka, Setsuna Sakurazaki, Nodoka Miyazaki, Konoka Konoe."

With that, Magic infused itself on the four disciples as Naruto watched in fascination.

"Alright then, now expand the anti-material shield on to everyone." Evangeline instructed as Negi did so, there were still but little grimace coming from him, but a bead of sweat was pouring down from his forehead.

"Then, expand the anti-magic barrier at full power." Eva barked as Negi complied; now finding the whole thing a bit taxing as he slightly grimaced. Naruto raised his eyebrow at this but kept his mouth shut as he sat down on the ground while watching Konohamaru with his run.

Asuna quickly noticed Negi's difficulty at the situation, but kept quiet about it, she wasn't the teacher after all.

"After holding that for three minutes, I want you to fire one hundred ninety-nine arrows of light skyward to the north. You don't need to hold back as I've already expanded the barrier."

This time, Negi grunted before he could give a proper answer and raised his hands upwards towards the north.

"One hundred ninety-nine spirits of light gather unto me and strike my enemy!" As Negi began his incantation, small balls of light began to gather around him as he let it all go upwards in an almost dazzling display of fireworks, Naruto simply whistled and watched as the girls all looked starry eyed at the light show. Even Konohamaru had to stop his run and look skyward before he himself looked in admiration.

It was then that everyone noticed that Negi collapsed on the ground very hard after doing that particular spell.

Eva looked on in disdain, "This is pointless if he's going to faint just like that. He may have inherited incredible magical power, but it's a terrible waste."

Chamo defended his aniki at this, "You're being hard on him, Evangeline-san, and he's only ten years old! He invoked four contracts all at once for three minutes and used one hundred and ninety-nine arrows of light! He's used up more magic than he did back in Kyoto! It's only natural that he passes out, any ordinary mage would if he had to…"

Eva then looked at Chamo threateningly at this as she cut her off, "Silence, you lower life form! Do you think I'll be satisfied with just an ordinary mage? You want me to cook you up and eat you? You were a trespasser here from the start!"

Chamo had a shiver ran down his spine as he immediately went to Asuna for sanctuary actually scared of what she might do to him. And considering this was the infamous Undying Mage, Chamo knew that her threat would have been very real.

"Listen to me, Brat. The secret to being the strongest lies in the determination to overcome your limits! You should do well to remember that!" Evangeline lectured meanwhile Naruto simply grinned at the back as he asked the vampire smugly, "Don't you think he knows that already, Eva-chan?"

"What are you talking about?" Evangeline asked rather curiously at this. She looked at Negi who woke up and mumbled what Naruto said to him a few weeks ago.

"In order to grow stronger, you will need to surpass the limit placed on you. You will need to go even further of what you are right now; to become strong means to go beyond reasoning." Negi mumbled as he stood up and gave a fierce grin on his own, all the while staring at Eva and then back to Naruto.

"That's what Naruto-nii taught me when we first fought, Evangeline-san."

Somehow, Evangeline didn't sport a scowl this time, in fact, she looked amused.

"Dedication to training eh? It seems that idiot has ingrained something more than just muscle in your head. Very well then, but if you make even the slightest excuse, or even let a small sliver of tear drop, I will drink your blood, every last drop of it, do you hear me?" Eva sneered at this as she looked on to the red head that simply nodded in clarification and then spoke, "Ok, I'm counting on you, Evangeline-san!"

Evangeline then cradled her chin as if she was thinking something deep until she snapped her fingers and said to Negi, "Call me Master."

"Y-Yes master! Oh, by the way…" Negi interrupted as he then asked Evangeline, "If I wanted to defeat a dragon, how long do you think I should train?"

"Say that again?" Evangeline asked, Naruto's head turned towards the vampire and the mage and asked as well, "A dragon, eh?"

Naruto remembered that one mission about that red headed girl named Akari who looked a lot like his mom, except younger, but still hot. A blush and a grin soon made its way on his face. Ah, he rather liked that girl, sweet and very demure. Also, the red hair, yeah, definitely the red hair reminded him of his totally hot mom! It was too bad about the sword though, he didn't pack it up in his scroll when they went dimension hopping.

"What's this about a dragon?" Asuna asked to which Yue hesitantly told her.

"Hoho… A dragon you say?" Eva looked interested for a moment at this before decking Negi in the face.

"You idiot! Who the hell would fight a dragon in twenty first century Japan? If you've got time to think about stupid non-sense then at least try to learn one spell!" Eva mentioned, to this, she looked over to the blonde who was still blushing and grinning while looking up.

"Oi, what's wrong with you, blondie? Got a hard on for dragons?" Eva joked, to which Naruto snapped out of it and retorted to Eva, "Now, Eva-chan, that's a naughty mouth you have, and who said anything about dragons?"

Everyone had a bead of sweat at the back of their heads at this except for Naruto who only hummed and went back watching his apprentice push himself with the given load.

"I can't believe this moron is the strongest in his dimension, is there something incredibly wrong in that place?" Evangeline questioned this to no one in particular while palming her face.

Naruto simply answered her, "If you must know, the stronger people get, the more mentally unstable they are. It's the law of the universe, Eva-chan. I've come to accept that fact. This place doesn't look like it would disobey that particular rule either. It must be the training method that drives strong people nuts."

To which, Evangeline simply contemplated at this, well, there was some truth in it, Jack Rakkan was certainly a candidate in that aspect as was Nagi. If she accepted the fact, then she too would be part of that list of absurdly strong people with eccentricities and psychopathic tendencies. No way in hell would she allow that!

"I don't think I want to be strong anymore." Negi mentioned, well he surely didn't WANT to be a mad raving lunatic! Too late for that…

"Oh, and what kinds of training method you had to undergo just to be THAT mentally unstable?" Evangeline asked, if it was something crazy like almost dying, then it was plausible that she's part of that list.

Naruto looked at Eva and then closed his eyes while closing his arms, trying to remember his training methods from Kakashi to Jiraiya, to Killer Bee.

"Well, I remember I had to climb trees without my hands, walk on water, and cut leaves with just my chakra…" Naruto mentioned as he began counting them with his fingertips

Eva nodded, so far so good…

"Then there was the time I got shoved to a cliff do or die style, the time I had to split a waterfall in half, the time I had to endure and stay still on a pond of oil while half naked…"

To this many of the girls blushed as Setsuna sported a nosebleed. She had to grasp the lower half of her face as she remembered when she had to summon Naruto via the frog. While Eva was paling, it was getting rather close to having life or death situations that Naruto had mulled about. Maybe she had to accept the fact that there is indeed something wrong with her. No, damn it! It's not possible!

"We didn't have to hear the details on the last part!" Asuna shouted rather loudly, but Naruto ignored her as he continued, "Then the time I had to fight myself, then the time I had to fight an ancient beast that fed off of hatred, don't ask about that last part."

To this, Eva was on her knees on the ground as if a bad realization had hit her. Naruto looked at it and ultimately dismissed it, whatever; it wasn't as if he did something that shattered her reality.

"That's it Konohamaru, enough with the laps, we'll go with Taijutsu today!" Naruto shouted to Konohamaru who complied and removed all of the excess weight and the rope tied to his waist, wrist and legs that had iron weights at the end of the rope.

Naruto then helpfully set up the rules. "Supplementary jutsu is allowed such as Shunshin, no Elemental Ninjutsu and no weapons. I believe you recovered only one fifth of your reserves, right? So as a handicap for me, I won't be using my combat style against you."

Konohamaru scowled at this, "I don't care, bring whatever you can in this fight, Naruto-nii! I need to get stronger!"

To which, most of the girls looked intrigued as did Negi as Naruto simply grinned at this, so that's how he wants it, eh?

"Fine, but don't complain that I used 'Bunshin Sentou (Clone Combat)' against you." Naruto replied as he raised his hands and formed the seal to his favourite technique.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)" Naruto shouted and two clones popped into existence as they then used Shunshin and flickered out of existence.

Konohamaru immediately braced himself as three Naruto had instantly appeared from all of his sides. The clone at his front immediately went for a strike and aimed a punch straight to Konohamaru's face. Konohamaru instantly dropped and delivered a sweep kick. But it was futile as the one that he tried to counter swept above him and rolled on the ground behind him, another one then aimed a kick straight to his temple. Konohamaru dodged this by jumping upwards giving him a higher leverage since he used his own legs as a springboard. But it was not to be as another Naruto gave him a quick straight kick to his chest that made Konohamaru lose some air from his lungs sending him crashing and skidding on the ground a good three meters back.

Eva had a hand on her chin as she analyzed the blonde's style.

"Although it doesn't look like much, his style is basic Karate combined with coordination with his clones. It's like fighting a military unit. I can see why it's named 'Bunshin Sentou' and combining it with a high speed acceleration technique… It's simple yet effective." She commented, somewhat impressed that something so simple to be so effective.

Negi looked attentively at the fight as Konohamaru got up while Naruto was shouting, "Get up! The enemy isn't going to wait for you to stand, Konohamaru! That moment is enough for them to instantly kill you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Konohamaru mentioned as he got up rather painfully and went into his stance. He spread his legs and went to a squat as he faced Naruto with his right arm outstretched into a palm as he cocked his left arm back in a closed fist just to the side of his waist.

Kuu Fei was quick to recognize that style.

"Hey, that's one of out animal mimicry styles! That's the monkey's style-aru!" Said the Chinese martial artist, somewhat impressed that there was someone who had one of her styles! Her excitement was growing more and more as she watched these two combatants.

Setsuna noticed that this was the type of opponent that she had to fear. Her style revolved around one on one combat. Most of the techniques she uses are straightforward even if her style was refined much more than Naruto's. But his all angular attacks meant that he can reach her to where her sword would not be of much help, such as her back. Perhaps it was time to train under Naruto-sensei to have a feel of fighting multiple enemies at once.

Once Konohamaru had maintained his stance, a cold gust of wind surrounded the two fighters who stood perfectly still as Naruto shouted, "Let's go!"

Naruto and his clones flickered all around the field in random directions as did Konohamaru, as blows were traded, blocked or dodged, before dashing away and clashing once more with streaks of red and green clashing and moving away before colliding once more.

Eva had to stop looking there, she had to get back to more important matters, "Alright, that's it, we're going back to training; you all can watch the men barbarically beat themselves after your training is done for the day!"

The four girls looked rather disappointed as they went back as did Negi.

While Kuu Fei watched in excitement. Although fast, her eyes could clearly see Naruto and Konohamaru trading blows. She could see clearly how Konohamaru would be pushed to a corner multiple times and trying to isolate at least one clone to cripple Naruto's fighting style. It was the only idea that can be feasible in such a fight. However, the problem was, Naruto exceeded Konohamaru in speed and strength. And although barely noticeable, Konohamaru was having such a difficult time when Naruto encircled Konohamaru before vanishing once again until Naruto appeared just above him to give him an axle kick. To which Konohamaru stepped back to dodge the attack. He was about to leap towards the blonde with a drop kick but stopped when he saw another Naruto appearing to his side. Caught of guard, Konohamaru raised his arms to defend himself from the oncoming fist of the clone but felt the punch's force nonetheless, thus staggering him back.

Immediately seeing this opportunity, Naruto pummelled Konohamaru once more before a Clone appearing just underneath him and giving him a vicious upper cut sending him up. Naruto didn't stop there as he used his clone as leverage that ducked and sent him upward. Naruto then spun around in a three hundred-sixty angle and gave Konohamaru a vicious spinning kick that sent Konohamaru swirling like a top as he crashed to the ground below in a heap.

Konohamaru simply groaned in pain as he got up, wiping away the blood from his lip. Naruto-nii didn't know to hold back in Taijutsu. He can understand in Ninjutsu since everything he starts from there is lethal. And his Ninjutsu method was more like Konohamaru has to figure out the jutsu on his own. Naruto can only watch since he didn't have that much jutsu, but he more than makes up for it for the usefulness of each one and how he can use it to adapt to any situation that he sees fit. In Genjutsu, well, to Naruto, dispelling was more than enough and he even still has a hard time doing it on his own, for those higher tiers of illusions, well, the Kyuubi gets the job done.

"That's two minutes longer than the usual, you're getting better, Konohamaru."

To this, the brunette grinned when they heard a tearing of cloth from one of the clones. Naruto looked around him and saw one of the clones had a small rip in its haori at the hem as it swayed in the wind.

Naruto grinned as well, "Well now, that's an improvement!"

To this he dispelled his clones and proposed, "Come on, we're going to Chao's place to celebrate!"

To this, Evangeline turned her head towards the blonde, "Hold it right there!"

Naruto and Konohamaru froze in mid-step as the two turned around to Evangeline who was scowling at them.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Evangeline asked. Obviously, Naruto's teaching was unheard of.

"I'm treating my apprentice for a job well done?" Naruto replied as if it was rhetorical.

"You don't treat your students after they do well! You push them to do better!" Evangeline mentioned, to this, Naruto simply laughed a little as he said, "Sorry, Eva-chan, it's just how I was taught."

And with that, Naruto grabbed Konohamaru by the collar that was suddenly surprised and hoisted the brunette at the back while waving a simple goodbye to the group.

"Well, see ya!"

And with that, Naruto vanished in a plume of smoke.

To this all of the girls looked at Evangeline in total silence as if they were expecting some sort of reward as well. The vampire merely glared at all of them back and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Don't just stand there! Get back to your training! All of you!"

It would be a cold day in hell before Evangeline A.K. McDowell would ever treat someone out of generosity!

* * *

Three days later:

Naruto and Konohamaru decided to rest for the day as the brunette was currently suffering from the muscle pain he had been experiencing after yesterday's training. That didn't mean that the little hoodlum had to blow half of his money off yesterday, half price or not.

Ungrateful runt.

Anyway, as the two were in their apartment doing their own thing, i.e. Konohamaru watching what was on TV while Naruto kept doodling, when there was a sudden knock on the door.

Actually, it was more like somebody was banging on the door.

"Naruto-nii-san, Konohamaru-nii-san, open the door! You have to help me!" Negi shouted from the outside.

Both of them looked at each other and the brunette opened the door to reveal a distressed looking Negi Springfield who was almost at the verge of tears.

"I'm going to prepare some tea. You go talk to him." Konohamaru instantly offered to which Naruto just bowed his head and sighed. He wasn't really good at this advice thing; he preferred to do things more with action.

"So what's bothering you today, Negi?" Naruto asked.

A few minutes later, Negi poured out what had happened after they left. Naruto just thought about how Eva proposed Negi's style would be; magical swordsmanship or wizard style. He really didn't what to say about what happened between him and Asuna.

"What should I do, Naruto-nii-san?" Negi asked, somehow looking desperate, he was close to cling to Naruto's pant leg which Naruto found it hard to ignore. Leave it to a child to look up to him like a brother for advice.

"Negi, you should seriously consider looking for male role models other than me." Naruto mentioned as Negi looked at him rather dumbfound at his statement, "What are you talking about, nii-san? You're pretty cool! Master said that you're like my father in so many ways!"

"Really? How?" Naruto asked, not really interested, merely curious.

"How both of you are boneheaded and idiots."

"Hey!"

"Don't hit me; it was my master who said that, not me! She said that both of you always manage to get on her nerves!" Negi replied immediately. To which Konohamaru slyly added with that smile of his, "Oh he's a bonehead alright, and then some."

To this, Naruto glared to his apprentice before massaging his temples. Gah, why was a ten year old having girl problems? It doesn't make sense! He wondered if Iruka had the same problem with him when he was ten.

"Well, the only thing I can say for someone like Asuna, you're going to have to give her some time to cool off." Naruto said as Negi didn't look convinced, Konohamaru answered for him, "Remember how close personality-wise is Naruto-nii to Kagurazaka."

Negi promptly shut up.

"Well, its best that you say sorry, but you're going to have to say sorry after she cools down. People like her easily forgives, you'd be surprised how someone like her doesn't seem to hold that many grudges or if any at all." Naruto commented as he crossed his arms and nodded.

"This coming from the guy who considers someone who shoved an electrically charged technique on his chest a friend, come to think of it, I haven't had any news on Sasuke for the last three months." Konohamaru mentioned, to which Naruto simply waved it off.

"As long as he isn't being a psychopath, I can deal."

"Who's Sasuke?" Negi asked, both of them were about to reply they were largely interrupted by another knock on the door. Negi, being the nice boy that he is, politely volunteered to open the door.

Once the child teacher opened it, he saw the class president of Class 3-A happened to have greeted him.

"Good Morning, Negi-sensei!" Ayaka Yukihiro greeted rather enthusiastically which Naruto slowly edged away from the scene. Konohamaru glared at the blonde and his paranoia of Ayaka being a female version of Orochimaru like what Naruto stated earlier.

As Konohamaru watched in silence at the two, a cold chill ran down his spine. Stupid Naruto and his comparisons, now he was having the same imagination! Thankfully though, he didn't encounter that criminal personally so the damage was much less severe, he couldn't say the same to Naruto who was now close to banging his head on the wall.

"Must. Get. It. Out. Of. Head!" Naruto recited his mantra as he then plugged his ears with his hands and closed his eyes.

Konohamaru remembered that the start of Golden Week was today, no thanks to Ayaka's questioning of Negi to where he was planning to go. That meant no classes for a whole week. Instead of doing the same thing like Naruto, Konohamaru decided to get a tad bit closer to their conversation when he heard this statement from the class president.

"Since it's the weekend, I wanted to invite you into 'My Paradise in the South', how about it, Negi-sensei?" Ayaka proposed.

This time, Konohamaru had to intervene, "Oi, that better not be what I'm thinking, Iincho-san!"

"I meant my private island in the south! What did you think it was, Konohamaru-sensei?"

Konohamaru stopped dead in his tracks at that and then sheepishly laughed, "Oh, ha-ha, I thought it was some sort of new innuendo or something. But in case something does happen, I'll be coming along with Naruto-nii."

"Hey, who said anything about you two going?" Ayaka suddenly snapped at Konohamaru who merely ignored Ayaka's inquisition as he shouted to the older blonde.

"Oi, Naruto-nii, pack your bags! We're going to the beach!"

"Way ahead of you, Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted, miraculously blocking anymore thoughts about one particular enemy that had a tendency to go after little boys.

Ayaka dropped her head in defeat at this.

Negi, meanwhile, did his best to comfort his student, "That's just who they are, Iincho-san, nothing you can do to stop them."

A few hours later:

Once they arrived at the destination, Naruto and Konohamaru were the ones to immediately dash outside of the plane looking like they had their pants on fire, once more; both of them looked like they were just about to go on a spree. What it is, Negi didn't know nor will he likely ever find out as the two went on to the nearest cottage to change into their suits.

Negi simply shrugged at this as Ayaka looked rather irately that her plan of spending some alone time with Negi was clearly wiped of the map the moment she leaked it to Kazumi and Haruna. It didn't help matters that Naruto and Konohamaru were there to overhear her suggestion to Negi as well.

Negi watched as much of the class members were present in the island including Asuna and the others who were much more composed as Asuna spoke, "I don't understand why I have to go as well."

Konoka was the one to give a reason, "It's nice to take a break once in a while, I think you deserve one too, Asuna."

To this she whispered to Setsuna, "Maybe if she were here she'd forget about her fight with Negi-kun and just relax by the seaside."

Setsuna, ever the realist, said to her, "It would be nice if that were the case but…"

As soon as the swordswoman said that, she saw Negi approaching them and going towards Asuna.

"Ah, Asuna-sa…"

He saw Asuna then turn away. Negi was deliberately snubbed.

The boy looked around and saw much of his class members having fun in the sun and wished he could join them, but the fact that Asuna was still angry at him was still worrying him to no end.

"It would be nice if we had at least one boy here." Yuna mentioned, as Makie helpfully added, "I guess it's got to be Negi-kun, right?"

Yuna laughed nervously at this, feeling sorry to the girl, even though Negi was just five years their junior, a crime was still a crime. She didn't know if it was right to expose such a kid in the _'harsh' _(?) reality of this world.

And just as if her prayers were answered, they heard a loud roaring engine coming from the island. When they turned their heads towards where the sound of the engine coming from they saw two huge streaks of water with full powered Jet Skis throttling at the front. They then saw Naruto and Konohamaru going head to head against each other as Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. The feeling of wind colliding to Naruto's faces as they encircled the large island was something really thrilling for the blonde; it was like he was running, except with a fully powered engine as a ride. Man, rich people get all the best stuff! It was a good thing one of the attendants told them how to operate this thing; he was hungry in taking this baby out for a drive!

**VROOM!**

"Ha! Take that, stupid apprentice! You're a hundred years to early to beat the speed king!" Naruto gloated as he went past Konohamaru. Once they approached a wave, the said vehicle suddenly lost balance throwing the blonde in mid air as Konohamaru laughed.

"Ha-ha! That's what you get for not looking straight ahead!" Konohamaru shouted as Naruto, still in mid-air, adjusted his descent by arching his torso back, pulling the handle with all his might and letting the said vehicle loop in a vertical three hundred and sixty degree angle and crashing back into the water perfectly stable before roaring the engine once more.

"What? No fair, Naruto-nii! You used a ninja technique back there, I just knew it!" Konohamaru accused, to which Naruto simply gave Konohamaru a raspberry before storming off in that wave rider of his.

At the beachside, everyone watched in amazement at the two as they got back to shore, their adrenalin now slowly dissipating from their system.

"I got to get me one of these before we go back home, then I'll have to take this to the tech department. I bet they'll love this when we go to the beach next time!" Naruto said excitedly as the prospect of getting one of these wave riders. Though the life jackets weren't really that necessary for him, he can walk on water for goodness sakes! If that attendant didn't harp to him that he couldn't use this thing without wearing the floatation device.

Konohamaru had to agree with Naruto for this one, this thing was a whole lot better than running on water!

Both their attentions went back to the girls as they got off their vehicles. Naruto finally got rid of that annoying life vest and throwing it into the seat as he stretched about and said, "Now, I'm all fired up!"

"Fired up for what exactly?" Konohamaru asked as Naruto run towards the girls waving his right hand.

"Hey, girls!" He shouted, to which most of the women stopped their progress at seeing Naruto.

Oh, right. Now Konohamaru knew.

Most of them blushed seeing Naruto's chiselled body.

The blonde was wearing an orange pair of trunks with a black flame design at its hem. It was a shame that he didn't sport a necklace right now; it would have complimented his beach attire. Konohamaru then came next to the blonde who wore a pair of trunks with a camouflage design while sporting a pair of goggles over his head.

It was then that the girls snapped out from their thoughts and greeted both their teachers.

As they were about to go out and play for a while, Naruto whispered something to Konohamaru.

"I've snuck some alcohol into my bag, Konohamaru, after this, we can drink all we want!" Naruto said excitedly, he had always wanted to taste alcohol in this world. Back in Konoha, he, Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji and Kiba had once decided to sneak past a bar in Konoha that was obviously meant for twenty year olds and above, they've gotten their fair share of drinking habits from time to time, hell they even had Sai with them one time. Though that turned out to be a pretty horrible idea as it caused a misunderstanding to the local patrons of the said establishment that Sai was ambiguously gay and was hanging out with men that were, subconsciously gay as well. That didn't end well when Sai called out these drunkards and the size of their soldiers (Naruto refused to talk about it since). They had to stop Kiba from literally punching the guy's face. It also turned out that the guy that Kiba was about to deck was Shino. Hey, it couldn't be helped that he keeps quiet about most of the things in his person! It also doesn't help that he likes to cover his face with that overly long neckpiece, the shades and the hood! Seriously! Although, Shino was actually fun to be around with when he got sloshed, the guy had many stories and kept yammering his mouth off telling secrets that people normally would find embarrassing. Oh he knew alright, those bugs of his weren't just for tracking. Thus, Naruto obtained the most number of blackmail material in the entire village no thanks to the bug user. Now he knows who to invite first to a drinking session once he gets home.

One time, he decided to invite Rock Lee into their growing habit, well, Neji outright refused the idea. Naruto didn't exactly know the specifics as to leave Rock Lee alone, but Neji made it quite clear that he wouldn't be the one paying for property damage and containing Lee's fits of rage. Whatever the case was, Naruto thought that Rock Lee was just a violent drunkard when he's wasted and he sure as hell didn't want dealing with a whammy that big at two in the morning.

And don't even start during one of his visits in Kiri and Suna.

"What the hell? Naruto-nii, I'm a minor and so are you! What part of your brain thought up of this mess?" To which Naruto merely scoffed at the idea.

"You're old enough to carry a headband, old enough to do missions. The day you decided to wear the forehead protector is the day you become an adult. So no backing out, you hear me, Konohamaru?" Naruto mentioned, to which the brunette sighed. How was he going to explain this once he gets home?

Once they went with the girls to play, the duo got separated when Naruto decided to play on the water with the other girls while Konohamaru went to play beach volleyball.

Naruto then noticed Negi was now being molested by many of the girls in their class. As Naruto approached them (note: with extreme caution), Negi, who was struggling with his best to get out of the situation he was in, didn't look to where he was going and instead, managed to headbutt Naruto that was caught off guard straight to the blonde's abdomen.

The blow knocked the wind out of him as Naruto fell down backwards like a sack of potatoes while a rather dizzy Negi was caught by Kazumi.

Naruto, however, instead of flopping in the water backwards, was caught by Chizuru.

Instantly, Naruto's face grew red as he just realized as to where his head was actually placed.

Slowly, he turned his head towards the source to where 'those soft pillows' belonged to and looked up at Chizuru who caught him in a rather compromising position. Naruto only stared at her in silence as he was apparently caught off guard.

'_Hehe…' _Naruto laughed inside rather perversely, trying to keep a straight face. Of course, it was getting rather 'difficult' in keeping the situation as it is. Naruto had to be the one to speak, "I'm sorry?"

"Oh no worries, sensei, though I just hope you take responsibility for this." She said with a smile on her face as Naruto's face had its entire colour drained from him as it turned pale.

"Well what do you know, I just had this extreme urge to go wave riding again, kaythxbai!" Naruto said those words so quickly that he was never understood until Chizuru had to slow think his words through as the blonde made a dash to the wave rider situated near the shores.

Chizuru tilted her head in wonder though as she wondered as to what Naruto had immediately thought.

"Ara? I wonder what got into Naruto-sensei…" She wondered out loud as the rest of the girls merely stared at her with beads of sweat at the back of their heads.

Once the loud engine of the wave rider was heard, Konohamaru turned around and saw the blonde pumping so much gas into his vehicle that it was immediately out of sight.

Konohamaru had to apologize to the girls he was playing with and was about to go after the blonde when he saw Negi struggling towards the deeper part of the shore. Cursing at this, Konohamaru was about to dash towards the place when he was stopped by a pull of his leg, forcing him to drop his face into the sand by Asakura.

"Sorry, Konohamaru-sensei, it's all an act, just watch!" Kazumi mentioned as Konohamaru growled at this, but just sat down on the sand. Whatever harebrained scheme Asakura was up to, trouble was always following behind.

"The shark knows Kung fu!" Negi shouted in a panic as he desperately swam away to shore while Konohamaru's eyebrow was instantly raised.

"Ah, I see… Kuu Fei, right?" Konohamaru asked as Kazumi nodded, "Well this can't be good."

When Konohamaru said those words they immediately saw Asuna out with her card that now turned into a gigantic sword. With her rage, she swung the mighty blade with all her might.

"You damn sharks!" She shouted as the sea was unexpectedly split open, allowing for Negi to run towards her with a very scared looking impression.

Once she found out it was staged and all, she glared at Ayaka then back to Negi who didn't even get the idea of what was going on except for the fact that Ayaka and the others were only helping him to get along with Asuna again.

Once he was bonked to the head and Asuna ran away though, Konohamaru was the only one who laughed.

"What so funny, Konohamaru-nii-san?" Negi pouted, Konohamaru shook his head, "You idiot, you didn't take Naruto-nii's advice to heart, did you?"

To this, Konohamaru promptly stood quiet.

"Didn't take my advice on what?" Naruto suddenly appeared to their side as the rest of the girls jumped in surprise.

"About Asuna, Naruto-nii." To this, Naruto realized and asked Negi, "Did you make an elaborate attempt just to apologize to her?"

To this, the girls of the guilty party looked sheepish and nodded very hesitantly. Naruto laughed at this.

"Naruto-nii-san, this is no laughing matter! This is serious!" Negi shouted to the blonde. To this, Naruto calmed his laughter down and said, "Well, that just aggravates the situation, kid. Saying that you're sorry doesn't have to mean that it comes from here." To this Naruto pointed to Negi's head and then to his chest. "It comes from there."

"From the heart?" Negi asked and Naruto simply nodded as the three boys went for a walk.

"Of course, saying what you mean and saying what you feel are two different matters." Said the blonde as the trio went back to the hotel, Naruto then grabbed a scroll from his bag and the three of them went to an isolated clearing, where none of the girls were currently.

"So Asuna-san became angry at me again this time is because…"

"Because you and the girls made her worry more than you wanted to relieve her by apologizing. Though forgiveness comes with time, Negi, it's good to say you're sorry but only when actually have the heart to apologize." Naruto said as he then unravelled the scroll and pressed his hand to one seal.

In a plume of smoke, dozens upon dozens of liquor littered the small clearing.

"You're drinking in the middle of the day?"

"Konohamaru, when will you shut up about this?"

"Is this juice, nii-san? Can I have some?" Negi mentioned reaching for a bottle and instantly grabbing a glass and downed its contents.

Naruto and Konohamaru instantly paled at the sight of Negi drinking.

This wasn't good.

"Wow, this is good stuff, nii-san, a bit bitter, but it has a particularly sweet taste."

This was bad…

* * *

To be continued…

Well, an update to this chapter finally! Hope you guys can excuse me on this, I had to write this chapter on time restrictions. I finally had to meet an editor for a book I plan to release. Sorry for the wait though!


	14. Don't Leave it Out

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Fourteen: Don't leave it out.

* * *

Naruto was always one to seek fun and thrills in his life. In his younger days, his adventurous streak would continue from the first hour of his awakening, to the last hour just before going home. He lived in the ideal that he revelled in his curiosity about things that interest him. Like how he used to prank people simply because it amused him. That and it made him forget about the loneliness.

So it was no surprise that he would carry this particular trait as he grew into what he was today. He loved adventure; he loved thrills and anything that would set his gears running (mental or otherwise). But now, it looked like his curiosity and thrill seeking would kill him.

"Hey, the hell izzz zis?" Negi slurred as he then smiled before chugging more from the bottle.

"Dis isss goooo (hic) oood!"

"You had a fruit juice flavoured alcoholic beverage in your person? Why am I not surprised?" Konohamaru asked in a rather calm manner.

"Hey, I wanted you to take your first day of drinking with something easier to swallow! It's like, the training bra of drinking!" Naruto commented. Konohamaru scratched the back of his head at this, not getting the idea behind the analogy at all.

"What?" He flatly asked, to which Naruto simply shrugged, hey, it just popped in his head.

"Nevermind, the bigger issue here is Negi. We need to keep him here before Asuna or any of the paedophile squad finds out that we've accidentally got him smashed and skin us alive for this." Naruto mentioned. Konohamaru looked around finding the child teacher no where near in sight.

To this both of them paled. Like how before they were transported to this world, like how that bubble of unstable time and space vacuum had botched, at the last second, both of them looked towards what seemed to be their impending doom. With such dread and thoughts of their imminent death approaching, the only phrase that seemed appropriate to escape their lips was one thing.

"Uh oh."

In some different plane of existence, a high ranking deity howled in laughter all across the improbably huge land.

"HOLY SHIT! WE NEED TO GET NEGI HERE, PRONTO!" Naruto shouted panicking as he felt his heart pounding out of fear.

"THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMENT, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS! THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU JUST DIDN'T BRING THOSE ITEMS IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"OH, SO NOW IT'S MY FAULT? HOW COME IT'S ALWAYS MY FAULT?"

"THAT'S BECAUSE IT IS!"

As they gave chase, their concern for the child teacher (and inadvertently their lives) turned to a set of shouting matches at one after another. Their panic increasing tenfold at this as they made a beeline towards the resort at breakneck speeds, passing by the actual Negi who stumbled as he walked to find Asuna.

Once they were at the resort, they were met with Yuna and Sakurako who had just finished playing another round of beach volleyball saw the duo making their way back into the lodgings.

"Hey, sensei!" Both of them greeted their teachers who went past them as they continued to argue with each other.

"I'VE NEVER SEEN SOMEONE SO COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE BY BRINGING THOSE THINGS HERE!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I'M DOING YOU A FAVOR, YOU STUPID APPRENTICE, AT LEAST APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT I'VE HAD HALF A MIND TO CARE ABOUT HOW YOU LIVE!"

Once they made it to the lodges, Naruto and Konohamaru separated and looked all over for Negi, with dread written all over their faces. As each minute was passing by, the duo was losing hope more and more.

Konohamaru just hoped that Ayaka or any of the other members of the shota brigade would skin him alive. Then again, Ayaka was the first person to try to give Negi an alcohol beverage, so he thought it couldn't be THAT bad.

Let us not forget that the first to successfully give alcohol to a minor was in fact, Naruto and to an extent, Konohamaru.

With Negi:

Ooh, everything was moving in circles, of it, he was sure, and he felt hot. As in, the heat in the sun had me sweating hot. He was also red as a tomato, not as red as his hair, but his flushed cheeks gave him a nice shade.

Anyway, what he was feeling now was beside the point, he needed to get his priorities straight! After getting some of the contents in his stomach, of course, he didn't know why, he just felt like throwing up.

After hurtling his soul out to the ground, Negi dazedly stood up and walked rather wobbly towards the resort with one thing in mind.

"ASUNAA-SHHHAAAAAAANNNNN!"

To which, the red head turned around and saw from quite a distance the red headed teacher wobbling towards her, he looked like he was ready to keel over and die.

Back at the lodgings, Naruto and Konohamaru had suddenly stopped and felt a shiver run down their spines.

To which, Naruto looked at his apprentice for a second and said, "I think now is a good time to go back into the forest and into hiding."

"WHHHHHAAAAAATTT?"

A loud thunderous voice echoed throughout the whole island as Naruto shouted to Konohamaru.

"Double time! Hustle, hustle, hustle!" Naruto shouted in a severe panic as they ran from the resort back into the woods.

Konohamaru hoped they wouldn't have to fall for a stupid trap such as the girls offering Naruto some Ramen.

Ten minutes later:

Naruto and Konohamaru sat under the palm tree bound by rope very tightly as Asuna was standing to their front with her arms crossed. An annoyed look etched on her face.

Though Konohamaru sported the same look as well albeit for different reasons as the brunette commented on why they were caught. "I can't believe you got bribed with ramen. No wait, that's actually pretty believable if it's you."

To this, the blonde laughed nervously at this as he said in a shameful tone, "W-well, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Fuck you."

"Both of you shut up!" Asuna shouted as she held her Harisen in hand and first pointed it to Naruto.

"You packed alcohol in the trip! Now look at what you did to the brat!" Asuna pointed to Negi as he was sprawled on the ground and mumbling.

"Asuna-shaaann, I'm shhooorrrryyy."

"I'm sorry?" Naruto said hesitantly to which it angered Asuna more.

"SORRY DOESN'T CUT IT, BLONDIE!" Asuna shouted with more ferocity this time. Naruto flinched at the voice that Asuna had projected earlier.

"In our defence, Negi took the chance of going on a drinking binge when he was thinking about apologizing to you on his own. No joke." Naruto mentioned as he tried to guilt trip Asuna.

Hoping that it'd work as Asuna flinched a little, Naruto then continued, "I mean he's such a sweet kid. Feeling guilty about what he said, it's kind of nice to have someone like that, heh, he'd be a great little brother."

Asuna then hit Naruto with the Harisen.

Naruto's head bent down with the brunt force of the Harisen as the blonde deadpanned, "Ow."

To this, Asuna once again pointed her finger at the blonde, "You trying to guilt trip me or something, blondie? Well, I've got bad news for you, what you did was worse than what Negi said to me!"

"Why is it you're concerned more for Negi's wellbeing now? I thought you didn't want to speak with him." Konohamaru mentioned in his usual unconvinced voice, as Asuna pointed at him with the fan.

"You aren't allowed to talk, damn it!" Asuna mentioned this with a blush as Konohamaru somewhat smirked at this, "Well, whatever you say, Asuna."

Konohamaru didn't know what happened next as all he could remember at that part was pain, agonizing and excruciating pain.

And then… Darkness.

* * *

A few hours later:

Konohamaru woke up and groaned as his body felt a dull and aching pain coming from his back and his side. He looked around and found out he was on the plane heading back to the mainland.

To his side, Naruto was fast asleep, his wounds already recovering, closing up as if his punishment never happened. The brunette scowled at this.

Lucky Bastard.

Once they got back and Naruto's consciousness returned, they had walked back towards their apartment, only to be met with a scowling Eva standing on their doorstep with Chachamaru and a small doll being held in the cybernetic girl's arms.

The vampire then pointed her finger at the taller blonde while wearing that scowl on her face as she said to the blonde, "Fix my seal. Set me free from here."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned as Eva walked closer to him and reached for his collar. The vampire looked at him at the eye and said, "Don't try to hide the fact. Even though you're a Class-A moron, you're actually a pretty good Seals master."

Naruto looked as though he was unfazed at the whole thing.

"Where did you ever get that idea?" Naruto asked, obviously not liking where this was going. To this Eva smirked, "Oh, a little slip up with the School Head does wonders, you know, which reminds me…"

Eva then began shaking Naruto's collar furiously, "You've been holding out on me when I could have gotten free earlier!"

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because I want to be free of this goddamn seal! Now stop playing ten questions and do it!" Eva shouted, frustration reigning inside of the vampire. Naruto gave off a small life.

"I'm sorry, Eva-chan, but if you want to be free, you're going to have to try better than that. Demanding something from me won't let me give you a ride to freedom more than I should."

"What do you propose then? I grovel on my knees in front of you and beg you to release me from my curse?" Eva asked, growing irritated as the blonde kept toying with her.

"Hmm… That does sound tempting… I'll think about it." Naruto mused, as he heard Evangeline growled and was on her knees and bowing in front of the blonde.

"Please release me from my curse, Naruto-sama, oh great and benevolent Seals Master from another world." Evangeline mumbled in gritted teeth. Naruto couldn't exactly hear what the vampire was saying and leaned closer. Unbeknownst to the Lolita vampire, a small click was heard as Naruto grinned wickedly.

"What's that, Eva-chan? I can't hear you!" The blonde mentioned as Evangeline gave a different answer…

… In the form of an uppercut hitting the blonde squarely on the chin. "I said, free me from my curse! Why do you have to humiliate me so, Uzumaki? You got some form of fetish that involves my suffering?"

Naruto, who fell flat on the ground, recovered and rubbed his chin with a grimace, "Damn punch almost dislocated my jaw…"

"Well?" Eva asked expectantly, standing before him with her arms crossed, Chachamaru not far behind, a look of apathy strewn on her face and a doll smiling at the top of her head.

Naruto simply grinned wickedly.

"Well, no. I just like to mess with you since you're so fun to tease. Other than that, you're powerless against me right now. So you're at my mercy at this moment." Naruto mentioned with a smile, as Eva growled further at this.

The taller blonde turned back toward his apprentice who gave him a thumb up, Konohamaru gestured for one of his own as he said, "Got that on camera, Naruto-nii, now we have leverage!"

Eva looked puzzled at this as she looked at the interaction between the two. Chachamaru answered for her, "Master, to answer that confused look on your face; Konohamaru-sensei had taken a picture of you with his Mobile phone while you were prostrating in front of Naruto-sensei."

"Oh, Chachamaru, you make it seem like I'm some god or something, Eva-chan wasn't prostrating, she was grovelling." Naruto corrected, to which Chachamaru replied, "I apologize for my choice of words then, Naruto-sensei."

The little vampire just had about enough of the blonde's antics.

"I've just had about enough of your antics, you plebeian!" Evangeline was about to grab one of her vials when Naruto chastised her, well, more like blackmailed her with that sly grin, "Now, now, Eva-chan, temper, temper. It wouldn't do any good if I _'accidentally' _spread this photo around the school, think of how people will see you after this!"

Konohamaru simply retorted for their student at this, "You're evil."

To this, Naruto shrugged while Evangeline twitched uncomfortably.

"You WOULDN'T dare!" Evangeline shook in utter furry as she started seeing red. To this, Naruto gave that wry smile, "I don't know about that."

"You would!" Evangeline mentioned as she walked towards the blonde and kicked him in the shin. Naruto cradled his chin as the vampire said, "You will erase that photo this instant, or face the consequences!"

The small puppet looked on in glee as it shouted, "Oh, now it's getting good! Rip his head off master!"

Naruto didn't look threatened no; in fact, he looked amused, "Well now, this feisty little girl is showing her fangs even though they're broken. I can set you free Eva, but give me one good reason why I should do it."

"Because I'm tired of being stuck here, I want my freedom; I want my chance of going out once more. But that idiot Nagi forgot to undo the spell, and now I'm perpetually stuck in this place with the body of a ten year old! ARRGGH! It frustrates me just thinking about it! I'm roughly past half a millennia old and my body is still pre-pubescent? I want my adult body back!" She ranted as she talked about more than she should. Naruto shook his head in amusement.

"Eva-chan, why don't we sit down inside our apartment and talk about this over a cup of tea?" The blonde suggested, Evangeline felt somewhat unconvinced at this as Naruto and an obviously careful Konohamaru entered into their apartment as the brunette began boiling some dried leaves for tea. While waiting for their cup, the two powerhouses sat down in front of each other with Naruto talking first.

"Care to tell me why you were sealed in the first place then, Eva-chan?" Naruto asked as he grabbed a scroll from his bag and began stroking his pen on it. Eva didn't want to give out on any details of her rather embarrassing reason to be sealed.

"Does it matter? Nagi Springfield imprisoned me in this place. He left me here to teach me a lesson, he forgot to release me, now I'm stuck here, end of story."

"It does matter, Eva-chan. It's because I know what it's like to have a seal placed on you unwillingly." Naruto stopped his writing and dropped his pen on the table. This time, the atmosphere around the two became serious.

"What are you talking about, Naruto? It couldn't possibly be anything worse than being sealed in this place."

"You'd be surprised." Naruto said this with a melancholic smile. He averted his gaze from the vampire as Konohamaru, with Chachamaru's help, served tea while the two were discussing.

"Have you ever heard of the term, 'Jinchuuriki', Eva-chan?" Naruto said this as he played with his teacup while Evangeline drank with hers.

"The term is usually very rarely heard in these parts, but it was believed that Jinchuuriki are people who are chosen as a sacrificial container for a malevolent beast, deserving its name as 'the power of a human sacrifice.' But I don't understand what that has got to do with this conversation."

"Everything, Eva-chan, everything." Naruto then downed his tea and continued, "That's a fairly accurate term at it. Though there's another term that I would have never discussed this to anyone, not even to the Dean. Jinchuuriki are trump cards in a war, Eva-chan, they are super weapons."

Eva looked absolutely shocked at this; did Naruto's world have forces who are actually containers of demons whose powers can be harnessed?

"What?"

"That's right. In my world, there exist nine beasts that are considered as monsters or even demons here. These nine beasts are called the Bijuu and are the sources of near limitless chakra. They rank in hierarchy according to how many tails they each have ranging from the One-Tailed Shukaku to the Nine-Tailed youko. For years, people have been trying to harness the power of the tailed beasts to turn them into weapons for their respective villages. To which, the term 'Jinchuuriki' was born. Nine people chosen to seal these beasts away into these people, and these nine were then called by that term. From then on, the Jinchuuriki were considered even more precious than the clan names, they were considered as the final weapon of any village that had them. They would only be deployed if they didn't have much of a choice left." Naruto then explained in detail the bijuu that were separated in each of the nations that had them.

"So these Jinchuuriki would be like the Nuclear weapons that a few select countries have?" Evangeline asked and the other blonde answered, "In a way, yes, though I don't know shit about Nucular weapons. But I guess any Weapon of Mass Destruction would be the general term for them though I don't like it one bit."

To this, Evangeline raised an eyebrow, "You're one of them, aren't you, Uzumaki?"

Naruto simply nodded, "I'm surprised you caught on this late, into the conversation."

"Well, there were certain doubts that made me want to reconsider you as one. For example, you're too damn upbeat. You're too positive. Because from what I know about humans as a whole is that they fear what they don't understand. From my guess, they didn't even consider you as humans, did they? By the way, it's nuclear." Evangeline asked while Naruto gave a solemn nod.

"Nuclear, nucular, whatever and yeah, they would consider us as something worse than a plague. That's because it's difficult to harness the power of a bijuu as a whole, and as such, we're loose canons when we go out on missions. It's so difficult in just even trying to harness one tail's worth of power. Even with a seal, it can't guarantee a safe way to stop one of us from going on a random rampage." Naruto answered at this truthfully, as he took another sip.

"All the more reason that you should free me from this accursed seal." Evangeline said this as she finished her cup and Chachamaru offered another. To which the vampire wordlessly accepts.

"That's where we differ in paths, Eva-chan." To this Naruto stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

"We're the same yet two different people with the same situation but different circumstances. I'm the container, you're a prisoner. So I don't know exactly how I would deal with you. If you want advice, go ask the Kyuubi on it. I'm the warden you're the convict, as such, I have a job of trying to keep you from going out of my prison. You see the point, Eva-chan?"

"But that doesn't take away the fact that you had a seal unwillingly placed on you!" Eva stopped drinking her tea and stood up herself facing Naruto with that scowl of hers. Naruto merely gave an understanding smile.

"Our circumstances differ. My seal was placed in order to prevent a disaster. Yours on the other hand, seems to be placed on you to teach you a lesson. Besides, we have a different energy source, the best that I could do probably is to tweak the seal for few seconds or minutes if I'm lucky." Naruto hated to admit it, but compared to his former master and possibly his mom and dad, he was still an upstart.

Evangeline grumbled at this as she sat down. "So the most you could do is extending my leash?"

"I wouldn't call it a leash, Eva-chan. That would mean that you're an animal, and I don't like it one bit. Jinchuuriki are human, they eat, they drink and sleep like one, they have the same flesh, the same desires, the same in everything a human does. Just like you, you eat, you sleep and you drink like a human, well, as much as a human probably should. But the point stands, Eva-chan. I would like to help you, really I would. But unless you can fix yourself, then how can you fix your seal?" Naruto then finished the tea in his table and escorted the three out of their apartment. Evangeline looked like she needed to contemplate on what the blonde said to her.

Before they could leave, the vampire looked back at the blonde that was waving at her and said, "You may be a moron, but you're a pretty deep person once you settle down. My apprentice and I are going to have some training tomorrow. We'll discuss some of the sealing techniques of this world there. Maybe train your own apprentice some more."

With that, Evangeline left as Chachamaru followed while holding a doll in her hands that sounded disappointed at something. "Aww… There's no blood."

The blonde couldn't help but shiver at the statement before going back inside. His apprentice glaring at him for a second as he said, "Is it alright that you mention something about the jinchuuriki here? Didn't you say that the least you could do right now is to not let the existence of the bijuu be known to anyone on this world?"

Naruto then looked out to the window as he said, "I know. But if I had to keep a secret with someone here, I can trust Eva-chan to let it remain a secret."

Konohamaru shrugged at this and went back to his room.

Whatever. It didn't seem like a big deal here anyway.

* * *

The next day:

"So this little thing will be our training ground for a sum of three days, huh?" A voice mentioned as it then added, "I think you may have gone on the deep end with what I said last night, Eva-chan."

"Shut up, you! The only reason why I invited you to come along was because of your expertise in seals!" Another voice shouted.

"This Villa was created by master many years ago. It has a different time perception. Whereas one day will pass there, it would only be an hour outside." The other mentioned her voice in monotone.

"We'll be using this as a training session and a discussion about what to do with Eva's seal? This is pretty good." Said another one and looking closely to the crystal ball with a gigantic structure in the middle.

"What, you two never had any of your hyperbolic time chambers in your world?"

"Well, we never had any of those back home. Though we did have different kinds of training, I'm sure you wouldn't want the Maito Gai treatment."

"What is the Maito Gai treatment nii-san?" Another voice mentioned as the first one shouted.

"All of you aspiring to excel in life come and join me as we aim high for our goals and train! Let us celebrate with the wondrous springtime of y-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll tell Sakura just who it is that kept publishing Jiraiya-sama's books despite that particular news."

"Killjoy."

"As much as I would like sitting here and doing nothing, let's get into the resort people! We don't have all day!"

"All right, all right, geez. Has it ever occurred to you that you need to stop and smell the flowers once in a while?"

"Yes but I'm a no non-sense person, unlike you."

And with that, a white light surrounded the dark room as not a whisper was heard.

The first thing that they saw when they entered was a large spire, roughly about the size of the World Tree or something close to that. Everything was white and evenly flat. A bridge with no rails was their only route that led to the large, ivory spire.

Once they were at the other side, Naruto, Negi and Konohamaru marvelled at the large structure as they looked around. The feeling that came from this place was both calming and regal. A few more minutes of admiration, and Eva had ended their sightseeing with a small cough.

"Now that I've got your attention, I'd like to proceed with the training at hand." To this, Evangeline grabbed a small piece of paper and showed a small pie chart that listed Negi's training for the day.

"So, bouya, have you decided on what type of mage you'll be?"

Negi shook his head, the vampire grinned wickedly at this as she said, "No matter, I have the perfect solution to this dilemma."

With that, the vampire instructed Chachazero to walk over to Negi's side and have Naruto go to theirs much to the begrudging knowledge of the vampire; she knew putting Naruto on the other side would just mean less of a struggle on their part.

Konohamaru instantly scowled at this as he said, "This is going to be a team battle isn't it?"

"That's right and I have two ways on how to do it." This time, Evangeline turned to Negi and instructed him, "Bouya, I want you to go to the back of those two. This is one of the styles that I was talking about. These two will act as guards and interceptors, as mine will as well."

Seemingly getting the idea to where this was going, the red haired mage went back and held his staff with both his hands. To his front, he could see the backs of Konohamaru and Chachazero that were facing against Naruto, Chachamaru and Evangeline.

This was the wizard style.

"Ready or not, Bouya, here I come!" Evangeline shouted as she raised her right hand, palm opening towards the skies above her as Chachamaru and Naruto dashing forward and then arching to the side once Konohamaru performed a simple Doryuuheki.

In that moment of set back, a barrage of seventeen arrows of ice came and shattered the slab of earth erected on the ground.

All of the said barrage's worth of arrows then immediately went after Negi as the brunette cursed his luck and crouched down, performing Shunshin no jutsu before being hit with the spell. The resulting action was a near hit coming from Eva to Negi and the red head retaliating with his Thunder Tempest spell while being carried by Konohamaru. Evangeline simply grinned at this as she managed to escape his line of attack. The small puppet was already on the offensive but was immediately stopped when Evangeline pushed her away with a simple spell. The doll recovered and was back on to Negi's side of the field. Konohamaru was in the middle and Chachazero up front while Negi was way back.

It was then that Konohamaru noticed that Chachamaru and Naruto were already on a pincer move while Negi was already casting a spell and aimed it towards Naruto.

"SHIT! Negi, whatever you do, don't go after Naruto-nii! He's especially dangerous when he reacts because his technique…"

Too late, Negi had delivered another magical barrage at the blonde who simply performed his minor Hiraishin appearing closely to Negi and delivering a clothesline straight to his chest while Konohamaru continued in a more mellowed out tone, "… Is essentially teleportation."

Negi was sent flying and tumbling on the ground as Naruto remained standing up with Evangeline shouting, "Six seconds, brat, you only lasted, six seconds! Get up! This time, I expect you to last at least a minute!"

Negi stood up and looked very determined. His eyes were burning with grit and strength as he held his staff like a base for support.

"Yes, I'll do everything I can!"

The two teachers smiled at this, well, the vampire gave that smirk while the other one grinned with his hands at the back of his head.

"Care for upping up the ante, Uzumaki?"

To this the blonde's grin turned from pleased to mischievous, "I thought you'd never ask."

Konohamaru and Negi each had a gulp of their own, obviously growing nervous as to what was about to happen.

Later that day:

It was a surprise that Naruto-sensei was late today, or in this case, extremely late, two hours late to be exact! The blonde teacher was wearing that sheepish smile today as he scratched his head out of embarrassment.

"Sorry, I'm late class, but there was this black cat crossing my path so I had to take a long route before I got here."

The girls had huge beads of sweat at the back of their heads as they taught it was the lamest excuse they had ever heard. One would think that someone of Naruto's calibre would be giving a simple excuse as having a terrible stomach ache, but this?

As if that oddball behaviour wasn't enough, Negi had walked in all wobbly and looked like his legs were about to give, he was pale and continuously slurred and accidentally banged his head on the chalkboard throughout the entire lesson.

Then there was Konohamaru-sensei who was as stiff as a board. Well, not really, it was more like his body was impossible to move. Everything that Konohamaru did just even raising his hand was painful.

"Okochi…" Konohamaru started as the swimmer looked at their PE teacher with a curious look.

"Please lend me a hand and put this whistle in my mouth. My hands are kind of in pain right now."

Once the day was almost over, most of the girls from 3-A were discussing just what it was that made their teachers weird that day. By then, many of those who knew of Negi's tutelage under Evangeline already knew what was happening and all agreed to meet up to where Evangeline used to live.

Instead of waiting for the mage, they all decided to explore the house and look for their teachers.

Thy looked around, finally one of them had managed to find something akin to a storehouse where countless marionettes with stilled, emotions were present; their dull eyes were open, staring at them in complete apathy. Asuna's spine unknowingly shivered.

This place was giving her the creeps, not only that but most of her companions just upped and vanished like that.

When she got close to the giant snow globe, a white light suddenly enveloped her before vanishing, just like the others did earlier.

A few seconds later, Asuna materialized right on a rather small pillar compared to what she was seeing right in front of her. Yue was with her as she waited, Asuna looked at the girl that was holding her knees. She noticed that Yue was breathing harder than usual today as she stared at the bridge with no rails.

"How come this has to be a bridge with no rails?" Asuna asked to no one in particular as she stared at Yue who was trying to walk steadfastly, aside from the shaking legs that was trying to take her over.

Once they did make it to the other side much to her relief, they saw the remaining girls leaning against the wall, listening intently.

"What are you doing?" Asuna asked with a raised eyebrow, Konoka motioned for her to keep quiet and phantom mimed with her index finger leaning on her lips.

"He he, it's alright, just a little more." The voice mentioned. Asuna stopped dead in her tracks and leaned in closer to the wall immediately.

"You're already at the limit, rest and you'll recover, you're young after all."

"Eva-chan, I don't mean to intrude and all, but that seems terribly euphemistic. And that's coming from me."

The voice growled at this as it then said, "Come on, hurry up and let it out! I'm getting impatient here!"

A grunt and a moan later, many of them were already blushing.

"You know what's even worse, here? It's the fact that Negi moaned."

"Ow, damn it, Eva-chan! You have to be so rough with that hand of yours, I mean- HNGGH! OW!"

To this, Asuna just had to barge in and saw Evangeline biting Negi's arm with Naruto on the ground doubling over in pain as he held his stomach.

"What do you people want?" Evangeline asked in a manner that was unwelcoming.

Asuna resisted the urge to slap her own forehead with her palm for being so suspicious of the child teacher and his two friends.

Explaining some of the stuff that was currently happening in the villa, Naruto proceeded outside and saw his own apprentice reading some of his scrolls.

"Don't you two ever get tired of training?"

"If we did then we wouldn't come out this strong." Naruto mentioned with a grin. A feeling of exhilaration was racing through the girls once more as Naruto shouted to Konohamaru.

"Oi, Konohamaru, break's over, we're going for a full on match this time!" Naruto shouted, everyone looked out and saw Naruto and Konohamaru standing before each other. Naruto was wearing a smile while Konohamaru frowned.

"All out battle this time, if you feel the need to use the higher level techs; then go ahead. Remember Konohamaru, from this point on, you should come at me with the intent to kill." Naruto mentioned, to this many of the girls paled at the sound of this.

"Sarutobi is being tested if he could ascend in his rank." Evangeline mentioned this as the girls all looked at her; Asuna was the one to protest this time, "What are you saying? Both of them could seriously die here! With the intent to kill? On a spar?"

"Kagurazaka." The girl was silenced when Eva mentioned her name as she said, "Don't blink."

And with that, she turned her head towards the soon to be battle, as Konohamaru and Naruto charged at each other with fists drawn out.

Konohamaru was the first to act, delivering a straight punch to Naruto, the blonde avoided the attack by slipping to the right very quickly. The brunette's back was fully exposed to Naruto as the blonde was about to deliver a swift chop. Konohamaru thought this through and rolled away from the chop. While he was rolling, the brunette used a series of handseals as he ended it in the seal of the tiger.

Gaining his footing, Konohamaru faced Naruto with one knee on the ground and shouted, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)"

The fireballs flew like bullets as Konohamaru fired in rapid succession, like a vicious machine gun. The blonde evaded each and every one of it as Konohamaru quickly grabbed a kunai from his pocket and threw it at the blonde. Naruto then flicked his right hand and a kunai of his own appeared from his sleeve, blocking the said object with his own blade. A loud clang and a spark of flame later, Naruto heard a sudden fizzling sound, like how a match was just lit. The smell of burning paper and sulphur invaded his nose and turned back towards the kunai that he parried. It was armed with an explosive.

It was all so slow for him in that moment, as the kunai was twirling in mid air in that instant before it gave off a flash of light.

**BOOM!**

"Naruto!" Asuna suddenly shouted as she paled. That type of attack was enough to kill anyone! What the hell was Konohamaru-sensei thinking?

But a loud clash of metals later, Naruto was once more facing Konohamaru with a kunai of his own. The blonde was grinning from ear to ear as he held Konohamaru by the arm and pulled the brunette towards him.

With a powerful tug, Konohamaru staggered forward before being met with Naruto's fist straight to his face. But Konohamaru wouldn't let that happen as he surrounded himself with earth chakra as it began to turn his skin to pitch black. Naruto stopped his onslaught and saw Konohamaru suddenly turned dark and let go while the said Brunette swung his free hand towards the blonde who dodged and jumped back as the floor shook below him with a mighty show of force. He would have destroyed it too if it weren't for the fact that it was made of magic. Naruto grinned at this gesture while he clasped his hand together for a middle index cross seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!" Naruto's favourite technique took effect as four clones popped into existence. With a simple flick of the original's hand they all broke out with Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

They scattered all around as streaks of orange while Konohamaru braced himself.

"This is almost the same as last time…" Asuna mentioned as the rest nodded.

"Not quite." Mentioned Eva, as she looked around the orange streaks; she could tell the blonde was setting up for something.

She counted them very well, there were supposed to be five of them. The four clones plus the original, so where is the last one?

Konohamaru carefully looked around; he saw Naruto suddenly appear beneath him, his leg was outstretched upwards and aimed at his chin…

Crap!

To both his side, two more clones had appeared and kicked Konohamaru upwards, borrowing from a rather crude method of the Konoha Shoufu, the Leaf Rising Wind.

Konohamaru was sent hurtling upwards and although it reduced a good amount of pain from the blow, it was still far, far too strong that sent him flying. He looked up and saw the blonde had suddenly created an additional clone! This time, two of them were beginning to pump chakra to both the originals hands, forming an orb that contained so much power in it. He was suddenly alerted that he had to react, but not before seeing the two clones earlier that had jumped to his side, holding him in place before he can counter.

The blonde knew this technique was deadly, he knew just how fatal this technique was. Hell, the first time he used this, he had almost killed someone, so he knew that if wanted to use this technique, he was going to power this down.

A level two Rasengan would be enough.

As Konohamaru plummeted like a rock to the floor below, Naruto had then used his clones as platforms to get above him.

Konohamaru felt Naruto driving one of those things against him, and although it was weakened it was still painful as a shit! Delivering it twice made Konohamaru wince in pain as they crashed on the ground, it was absolutely agonizing!

Naruto then jumped back as Konohamaru recovered. The Domu technique was already receding. His skin was returning to normal the moment he lost concentration, that and the damage it took meant he had to renew the technique.

He got up and bit his thumb.

"What the hell was that?" Asuna asked, as she looked absolutely amazed at Naruto's technique.

"It's a barely completed version of the Rasengan (Spiralling Sphere), a technique that uses the full shape manipulation of chakra." Naruto said this without even looking at the girl as he prepared himself for what was to come.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)"

The brunette slammed his blood laden hand on the ground and the runic spells of the summoning technique appeared once more. A plume of smoke twice the size of the brunette suddenly emerged with a loud pop. It was then that the monkey king made his appearance once more.

Konohamaru spoke to Enma, "Enma-sama, please lend me your power!"

The monkey king wordlessly nodded and jumped up front and with a single hand seal, the monkey king transformed into non-other than the Adamantine staff.

Naruto then watched as Konohamaru started pending off some of his clones with the said staff, deflecting them by twirling the said weapon around. Kuu Fei who was watching the whole scene couldn't help but be impressed with the brunette's skill in wielding such a staff, not only that, the said staff could stretch its length and width! Could it be? No, it was impossible, legendary staff that was said to change size was within her sights! She had bore witness to the mythical weapon said to have been used by Sun Wu Kong!

"The Jingu Staff!" She shouted, in awe at the presence of the said weapon.

"The what staff?"

"The Jingu staff-aru, the legendary weapon wielded by Sun Wu Kong, the monkey king… I never knew Konohamaru-sensei held that weapon in his possession! Many skilled martial artists could only dream of possessing such-aru!" She elaborated with stars on her eyes, watching Konohamaru fend off Naruto and his clones.

As the brunette backed closer and closer to the edge, Konohamaru knew the position he was in. Once he was on the edge, he frowned and then looked back to Naruto who was walking towards him; his clones were reduced to four this time. One of the clones had met its end when Konohamaru swung the staff when the clone's back was turned.

"Konohamaru, I gave you the chance to go all out this time, to find out just how much you've improved. Don't try to waste my time with these things, I told you to come with the intent to kill, yet you've been on the defensive since you summoned Enma. Not even once you tried to go the original, only using defence tactics. Because of it, you're having a hard time just maintaining your ground."

Konohamaru's scowl remained at this as he looked back at the blonde. His feet were now at the very edge of the spire. With Enma still in hand, Konohamaru did the only thing he could do, try to run away and use sneak attacks to finish off either the original or the clones and reduce Naruto's fighting ability.

With that in mind, the brunette jumped.

And he fell, straight down.

Everyone except Naruto all grew horrified at what happened at first, until Naruto and his clones jumped as well.

They all ran over to the edge only to find Naruto and Konohamaru were scaling the walls and chasing each other around the spire wall.

"How do they do that?" Asuna asked, seemingly impressed at this. Watching the two in such unbelievable speed feats while remaining on the vertically inclined surface would do that to anyone.

Everyone remained silent as they watched the two of them fight like warriors meant to kill each other.

"But master, with the 'intent to kill'? That's a little overboard, don't you think?" Negi pleaded to Eva who remained quiet as she said to Negi, never meeting his gaze and watching the fight intently said this to the red head.

"Students who do not show their killing intent in a fight against their masters are arrogant, Bouya, they should know that holding back isn't in the options given to the apprentice for if they did, they would accidentally die. Masters can be wise, but they aren't perfect, one wrong move against them made by the student would guarantee death for the student that doesn't show their all. Remember this well, Bouya, if the master says to fight with the intent to kill, then obey, for he shall come to you like a hungry lion." Eva mentioned this as Konohamaru ran desperately, trying to come up with a solution against the oncoming clones. The brunette jumped over the flight of stairs and used his Kongo Nyoi to help him before latching his feet on to the wall once again. He threw the staff straight upwards, hitting one of the clones square in the face and dispelling it quickly while the staff suddenly had an arm and choking another clone with its large hands before crushing it, thus the plume of smoke.

The staff turned to Enma and landed on the wall before kicking again and back flipping back towards the brunette who had by then finished sequencing his seals and ending it with Tiger.

The remaining two clones took the offensive and charged at Konohamaru straight on. The brunette had opened his eyes and inhaled deeply.

This was the technique listed in his grandfather's scrolls; it was his strongest Katon Jutsu, capable of incinerating and liquefying metal itself.

"Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Napalm)!" Konohamaru shouted this as he began to breathe out the jet stream of flames from his mouth with the very tip the image of a dragon's head. The flame had made its way towards the clones that were completely incinerated before dispersing by the staircase. The wild hot flames danced as the two clones were gone.

The original then had the memories of his clones come back to him. His grin escaping his lips at Konohamaru's skill, the boy was improving very fast.

It was then that amidst the dancing, high temperature flames, Konohamaru had appeared, a fully Rasengan in hand with the flames dancing along its wake.

Naruto then formed a Rasengan of his own, this time in its third stage. The sound of grinding can be heard as both fighters stared at each other down while the flames danced around them; flickers of ember and smoke were present around them as the people from the top spire watched.

"Wow, this is intense…" Konoka watched as the two charged at each other, with orb in hand.

Eva scowled.

"I've already foreseen this ending, the apprentice will lose."

Everyone turned to look at Evangeline and then back down, their breaths holding in anticipation.

"RASENGAN!" Both of them followed through, as jutsu met with jutsu, clashing against each other in a proverbial firestorm, the dancing of the flames grew even wilder, as the force of the techniques caused a tumultuous shockwave of power where one is trying conquer the other. Just as the flames were dancing the two remained in their unbending wills and their sheer stubbornness to win. Konohamaru's eyes showed forth something Naruto hadn't seen in a while.

Determination.

"Don't falter." Konohamaru mumbled as he pushed forward

"Don't hesitate." He said once more.

"Don't give up!" He shouted as he continued to push his way, trying so hard to do so. Just as when Konohamaru had budged Naruto's arm slightly, just as he had reached that peak, the Rasengan that Konohamaru had made, quickly dispersed. With that surprise, the brunette's eyes widened, as quick as how his jutsu had dispersed.

Naruto's hand, with Rasengan still in hand, dispersed a fraction of a second later, and with his palm, turned into a closed fist and finally hitting Konohamaru square in the jaw.

The brunette flinched as his cheek was felt the full brunt of the impact before plummeting straight to the water below.

He had lost.

"You're still not there, stupid apprentice."

* * *

Outside of Mahora:

The rain was quick to appear, pelting the ground fast. Its effect changed the sunny disposition of the beautiful academy to dark and gray, like pastel with dew drops around. The dark clouds, clad in thunder, shook the heavens as a stray dog managed to wind up inside the academy, unconscious and unresponsive. Two students had managed to find the stray dog in its midst. Worried for the said creature, the two students took it home, intent on putting it back to good health.

To another side of the academy, another student came upon something much different. It was a piece of paper, drawn with multiple characters in Kanji and driven in two co-centric circles. A girl with blue hair, with an old form of the school uniform happened to pick it up amidst the rain, at its middle circle; she noticed the numerical character of 'Ichi' or one placed on it. She noticed that the writings and symbols in the piece of paper were very similar or familiar to what her friend usually does in his spare time. Intrigued by this, she peeled off the paper from the ground and tried to show it to the blonde.

"I wonder how one of Naruto-sensei's seals got here… He should be living on the other side of the campus, if I remember."

With that, the ghost girl flew towards Naruto's house, intent on showing him her discovery.

* * *

Back in the Villa:

Once Konohamaru was salvaged and was sleeping inside the cottage, Naruto turned towards Evangeline and watched as the girls trained after she gave some instructions while Negi was reading a book.

"Alright, time to start something on your seal, be warned, Eva-chan, the best that I can give is a temporary freedom."

"Any freedom is worth it."

"Any freedom with responsibility, that is." Naruto corrected.

"This coming from the guy who successfully managed to get a child drunk." Eva rolled her eyes as Naruto retorted.

"Keep in mind that I hold the key to your freedom, Eva-chan, and although it got me uneasy, a part of me simply wants to see this through."

"And why is that?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's because I feel I need to know more about you."

To this the vampire blushed a little as Naruto grinned, what? She didn't expect that one to come out of his mouth!

Naruto hoped though, that he was making the right choice. They still have three days though, but to Naruto, a temporary solution would be enough for now. He after all, had the power of Kage Bunshin on his side!

* * *

To be continued…


	15. Secrets

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Fifteen: Secrets

* * *

Asuna couldn't sleep once more, it was that dream again, that dream in blood, of mystery, of a star laden night, of her younger years she never knew she had. Come to think of it, what was her life BEFORE the academy? What was she doing even before any of those things?

Bah, forget it, any more thinking and her head will hurt!

Deciding to go outside to get some fresh air before going back to bed, she heard a lot of voices coming from the other side of the wall.

"No, no, no! It's too impossible! Using a transfer seal without a good equivalent would only be a problem on the person who's going to wield it!" The first argued.

"Well, I don't see much point in using a buffering seal to delay the imminent. It would only slow down and the anti-seal would definitely be weakened to the point that it won't work for good!" The second one mentioned

"This is a temporary solution, goddamnit! The only reason why we can't come up with a good seal is both of you chumps keep blocking each suggestion!"

"Would you shut up and think then? While we're arguing, you're there sitting on your ass and trying to be dumb!"

"Dumb? DUMB? I'M YOU, DUMBASS!"

"So says the Crappy Bunshin, now would you focus and think of a new seal?"

"Oh I'll make a new seal alright, after I blow your head off!"

Asuna turned to a corner and saw three Naruto clones arguing with each other while they were each holding a piece of paper and pen, each of them were startled when Asuna was watching them with a deadpan expression.

"Are you arguing with yourself?"

The clones looked at each other and shrugged, they weren't psychologists but they knew it was the Boss' sign of a mental dysfunction.

Deciding to ignore it and never look back, the clones went back at each others' throats.

"No, that's the wrong seal! You want a freaking black hole of chakra to happen just before placing it on Eva? It's a freaking purifying seal, for goodness sakes!"

"Oh do tell me why a retention seal is good then, because from what I see, you would want to retain Eva-chan's loliness, you goddamn pedo!"

"Oh, like a proportion seal is going to help, you just want to see her adult form!"

Asuna, growing annoyed at the clones arguing with each other, she went up and found Chachamaru was serving tea from the pantry. She was looking at the rather expensive looking tea kettle that was up front.

"Would you like some tea, Asuna-san?" Chachamaru asked, Asuna simply shook her head as she commented about the kettle, "Nothing, it's just that the tea kettle looks rather expensive."

"Ah, you've noticed it. This tea kettle was from one of masters many adventures when she was still free. I believe she obtained it by the northern part of Japan, where the legend of a belligerent tanuki was sealed inside a tea kettle. This is just an imitation, but a craftsman handed this over to master before she left, most likely, master didn't mean to scare away the Tanuki spirits that were causing mischief."

Asuna nodded at this and waved at Chachamaru before she went outside and found Negi still practicing his katas.

"You're working hard as usual." Asuna said with a slight smile as Negi's attention was quickly brought out of his fighting form and looked back at Asuna.

"Ah, Asuna-san… I didn't expect to see you up so early." Negi commented, to this, Asuna merely grinned.

"Well, with Naruto-sensei arguing with himself, it's hard to sleep." Asuna lied, true, the blonde was being loud with his self debate, but it wasn't loud enough to disturb their peace. If it did then, Setsuna wouldn't have been able to sleep without as much as a wink. That girl was so much as a light sleeper it would be difficult just trying to get her off guard.

Negi seemed to laugh at this, "True, Naruto-nii does have a lot of quirks that make him stand out…"

"Master tells me he reminds her so much of Otou-san that isn't that funny." He continued before sitting down on the floor.

"I wish I could be someone like him, I wish I could be like Naruto-nii-san, he's so strong and decisive and even though he has his moments, he can be wise as well. If so, I can be a whole lot closer to Otou-san than I ever dreamed of." Negi said as he looked up. A smile crept up to his face.

"I never told you why I'm working so hard, didn't I, Asuna-san?" Negi promptly gave this afterthought as he looked up, a new voice suddenly popped up from behind Asuna.

"Oh, this is getting good, mind telling us what it is, Negi?" Naruto suddenly asked as Asuna jumped back in surprise as she saw Naruto waving at them with his left hand.

Negi solemnly nodded at this and began drawing a magic circle around the three of them. To this, a huge blinding light surrounded them before visions flooded into their minds. As soon as they sorted it out, they were at a small country-side village in Europe. It was mountainous, a lot of trees covered by a thick blanket of snow. Even the town wasn't safe from its gentle yet cold and harsh beauty, snow fell everywhere they looked.

The trio watched and sorted out the memories that lingered within Negi, the time that he had spent with Nekane, his cousin in Wales, the time that the some of the townsfolk explained the concept of death to a four year old, the time that Nekane was forced to leave Negi for her studies, the time Negi had to live alone due to circumstances he couldn't understand…

As the moments came to pass like a video, Naruto's expression turned from a smile to a frown. For people to leave a child like that all alone, to him, that was where everything went red in his vision. He couldn't quite well place it anymore, for it had been a long time since he had felt this type of emotion.

Anger, full unadulterated anger was what he was feeling right now. He had known how horrible it was to live on your own, the stuff that he had to go through, Naruto had to close his eyes and calm down. The lingering feeling of hatred still found its way to his heart from time to time.

"Naruto-nii, what's wrong?" Negi asked looking back at Naruto who could only answer with a fake smile.

"Nothing, Negi, just continue what you were supposed to show." Naruto replied, to which Asuna looked at the blonde in curiosity before shrugging it of.

Once Negi's memories continued its course, Naruto saw Negi trying everything he could to get in trouble, if only to get the attention of his own father.

Naruto gave a melancholic smile at this as he remembered his youth, though instead of doing things at his own expense, he was doing it at the village's expense if only to get their attention.

Then he watched as the village burned, watched as monsters came and ravaged the town, turned people to stone and caused havoc all around, everything was chaotic, many things were happening to the point that he didn't know what was what anymore until he saw Negi being saved by a mage. He saw the man fling the monster away with but a simple magical blast; there were no incantations, just a simple magical blast that sent the monster flying.

He then saw that old man and Nekane trying to defend Negi in futility as the Petrification spell took effect, slowly, the process of turning to stone began to creep up, until that man saved them once more. Spell after spell, after spell, every demon was laid waste, destroyed, dead, or simply disintegrated. He watched in awe seeing the man work much like himself, a tumultuous and unstoppable force of nature.

Once the memories were about to finish, Naruto summed it up with a question, "So you're blaming yourself for this incident because you simply wished your father to save you in times of trouble?"

Negi nodded at this and Naruto gestured for the red head to come closer with his right hand.

"Come here, Negi." He said, the red head complied and walked towards the blonde with the blonde lightly hitting Negi on the head.

"That's pretty stupid of you to think that. You didn't have a hand to do any of this; it was all a matter of circumstance. You don't look like someone who would put your ENTIRE village in danger just because of a child's simple wish to see his old man. Don't scorn your life because of this coincidental problem. Thinking your dad would save you if you caused trouble might be stupid, but it's even more stupid to think that you wanted everyone in your town to suffer."

Asuna simply smiled at this.

Naruto had a thought for this as Negi seemed unconvinced.

"Can this spell work in reverse and show my memories instead?"

Negi gave a slight nod at this and Naruto closed his eyes, searching through some of the things that would put Negi's thoughts to rest.

From the snow, fiery and ash covered town that Negi lived, the scenery changed to a quaint village, full of people bustling through the dirt trodden path, weird architecture littered the eyes of both Asuna and Negi as they watched the scenes unfold before them, it was then that they heard the silent but constant creak of rope on a lonely swing, under the shade of a large tree, and among them, came the whispers.

* * *

'_Is that him?' The trio turned around, and saw the adults__, mostly parents whispering to themselves as they looked at a boy sitting on the lonely swing, grabbing a piece one of the ropes that bound the swing to the tree._

'_So that's the guy…'_

'_Isn't he the one who…'_

'_Forget it, Hokage-sama forbade us to speak of IT in the presence of children.'_

_They looked around and saw the a red building with the kanji for ninja written big on its sign, to which they watched as the children bustled through the academy, ignoring the lonely boy who sat on the swing._

'_It's best not to get involved with him.'_

'_Get away from him.'_

'_Don't bother to talk to him.'_

_The whispers grew louder and the blonde boy couldn't stand it, even though they were silent, the blonde could hear every hateful remark about him. He gritted his teeth as he got out of the swing and walked away._

'_Good riddance.'_

'_I don't understand why they let HIM loose like this.'_

'_Monster!'_

_The blonde stopped at this as the hateful stares turned to venom laced words, every insult hurt him as he stepped away, every insult resulted in an invisible teardrop that would lead him nowhere. He held his sadness in himself; he would not give these people the pleasure of seeing him cry. _

_He saw kids walk past him, their hands held to their parents' while his were in his pockets. The faceless people passed him by without ever noticing him._

_When he got home, he opened the empty house, littered with nothing but trash and empty ramen cups. Empty cupboards and the sound of a deafening silence that would drive anyone insane was the only thing that greeted him upon his return._

_And in the empty room filled with nothing but gloomy walls on all four corners, the boy broke down and the tears fell like a cascading waterfall. He fell to his bed as if everything was weighing him down._

_Negi and Asuna watched in concern as the boy cried himself to sleep._

_The scene changed once more from the sad boy's room on to a small office, and there sat an old man at the desk, smoking his pipe as he read the document._

"_I don't want people become teachers who are closed minded on this issue." The old man stated as the person in front of him nodded._

"_To state that some of these people who refused to teach Naruto-kun is an insult to teachers all around the world and to an extent, me, being an instructor as well." He said._

"_But Hokage-sama, these are some of the brightest minds who are willing to share their knowledge to the children, the curriculum could greatly benefit from them! Surely we could overlook their bias against the child…"_

"_A teacher imparts knowledge to all, don't forget that. If a student fails to acquire the right amount of knowledge and lessons he needs in life, then the fault goes to the teacher who sorely lacks the sense of equality imparted on each student. Do you think we're teaching these kids to kill themselves? I established that Academy as a means for our young who aspire to be ninja to survive. Every single one of them is important and will become part of the ninja force sooner or later. If you deny someone of that right, then what gives you the right to teach in the first place?"_

"_Hokage-sama, this is clearly absurd; no one wants to get involved with the Jinchu…"_

"_Continue that sentence and I will slice off your tongue." The old man threatened, his gaze turning from morose to cold steel in just a matter of seconds. The old man stood up from his seat and looked for the file on the man's hands. After skimming through some of the files in his hands, he came to a stop once he saw the file. A small smile crept on his face as he read it; Umino Iruka would do well with this._

"_Ah, there is one person here who could do well with young Naruto, send him here."

* * *

_

"Why are you showing me this, nii-san?" Negi watched as the blonde replied solemnly, "That's because if it wasn't for the old man, I would have continued to hate everything around me, to me, he was my lifeline that I became what I am today."

"But what has this got to do with Negi blaming himself?" Asuna asked

"I'm about to get to that."

The scene changed once more, this time, the blonde boy had grown a little, but his eyes continued to show a little of the emptiness that held them, with no one to support to, he was now on his lonesome, perched on a random veranda he had found while looking below at the peaceful village.

* * *

'_Nar__uto, so this is where you were.' A look of surprise escaped him as the man turned to him with a smile._

'_You weren't at the academy for the official send off rights. I thought you were planning another prank again.' Naruto's mouth twitched as he gritted his teeth in anger for the man's smile._

'_How can you…' He mumbled and finally screamed at the man, 'How can you smile like that knowing I'm the thing that killed your parents?'_

'_Naruto… I've said this already…'_

'_Don't say it… Don't try to patronize me! What I've done, what I've accomplished… when I thought I became a ninja everything would change… It can't begin to compare to what this THING has done! Everything that I've ever tried to become… Was it all a lie then?'_

_The man stood silent as Naruto wept in front of him._

'_I can't stand it, Iruka-sensei, the reason of the stares, the hate, everything, I can't stand the reason of it! The very person that I looked up to was the same person that did this to me! How could you ALL do this to me? It's bad enough to not have any family at all, but to be looked at like I'm a monster or something… Knowing that something like that is inside me… I HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!'_

_For the first time in five years, Naruto was crying once more._

'_Naruto, I know you were the container long ago, I know for a fact that what you went through as a child was horrible, I know that you wanted attention more than anything, that you loved to be noticed by everyone, if only you could turn blind to your back, in fact, it's so ironic, that you remind me of myself when I was younger, always craving for that attention.'_

'_But compared to me, you were suffering for something you didn't do; I find it worse than what happened to me. That's when I realized, you were so different from it. So when I read that one Uzumaki Naruto was attending my class for the first time, I gave him all of my attention. So even if he had no one to turn to, I've decided I'd be the one he can talk to.'_

_It was then that Iruka touched Naruto's and ruffled it affectionately with a toothy smile that shone brightly like the sun, 'because if I didn't, who else would?'_

_Naruto paused for a moment and stared at his teacher and finally cried loud at this.

* * *

_

"This is a reversal of roles, when I had no idea what happened and people blamed me for something I couldn't have done. That is, until I found the real reason. The day I was born was the day people began whispering my name with trouble. You could say this is the total opposite of what you had, Negi."

'_Why did Gaara have to die now? H-He just became the Kazekage, damn it…'_

Another scene change, this time on a grassy meadow, the gentle breeze caressing as the blades of grass danced on the ground, to their sight, they saw a group of people, standing before a boy with red hair, unconscious and most probably dead. The one upfront was most likely Naruto; the blonde's back was turned as his shoulders were shaking and was walking slowly towards the boy.

* * *

'_Calm yourself, Uzumaki Naruto.' The old lady mentioned, Naruto turned around and lashed back at her. She was old and grey; wrinkles littered her face as well as the sign of fatigue. No doubt she came from a long and weary battle, as did the others._

'_**SHUT THE HELL UP!'**_

_And then they finally noticed, Naruto was now crying, he was crying for his friend._

'_If you damn Sand Shinobi didn't put a monster in him, this wouldn't have happened to him in the first place!'_

'_Have you ever realized how he felt? How heavy his burden was compared to yours? YOU'VE GOT NERVE TO SAY THAT TO MY FACE!'_

'_Damn the word Jinchuuriki… You have no right to label us or use us as you damn well please!'_

_To this, Naruto turned back to the red head and covered his eyes with his arm._

'_I couldn't save Sasuke…'_

'_And I couldn't save Gaara…'_

'_I've trained hard for three years and found out, nothing's changed…'

* * *

_

Asuna felt something wet on her cheeks as she watched Naruto's past unfold before her, she hadn't realized she was crying to the point that she never noticed. To her side, Negi was already bawling as he watched. From the memories that Naruto gave, Negi somewhat understood what Naruto was telling him.

"I want you to learn something from this, Negi, for the things we can't control or understand; finding a loophole to blame it on won't help. Be it yourself or others, it already happened, it's done. The past has already been set and all. You could only walk in one direction and that's forward."

With that, everything turned to white once more, this time, Negi asked the blonde, "Nii-san, what did those people mean when they said, 'it'?"

Naruto simply smiled at this and ruffled the red head's hair.

"I'll tell you someday."

And with that, the magic ended.

* * *

Outside:

Sayo Aisaka phased through Naruto's door like she had done so many times before when she wanted the blonde's company. It was always like this whenever he didn't have any teaching classes right now, so it was a surprise that Naruto was nowhere to be found in the house as she looked for him. Wondering where he went, Sayo took off carrying the paper seal that she carried with her hand.

On another side of the school, two students began talking under the shade of the tree, as the rain drizzled down and the clouds enshrouded the skies as far as the eye can see.

"There's an evil presence lurking in the school." Mana said this as her eyes sharpened, Kaede gave a simple nod.

"I noticed. I intend to find out just what is their aim in this school, de-gozaru." Kaede mentioned as she hefted her weapon to her shoulders, before turning back, Mana said to her, "Be careful when dealing with demons, they have always been cunningly devious."

"I know. I've been the same, actually."

Mana clicked her tongue at this, "Suit yourself, I've already warned you. Naruto-sensei should be more than a fair warning to you and all."

"I'll just have to trust my judgement then, after all, even the dean has had made deals with the devil. But unfortunately, this little devil couldn't bare fangs to an ally even if he tried."

"I don't even know why I'm giving you a warning anymore, but fair enough. I'll just have to continue observing him."

"Yeah, you do that."

"You sound as if I'm some sort of deviant or something." Mana frowned at this, while Kaede kept that smile on her face.

"Given the common reaction of what girls have when seeing someone like Naruto-sensei, it's quite understandable. There's a reason why I chose him to be my target back in Kyoto after all."

"You can be such a fox at times, you know that?"

"Apparently, not foxy enough to someone like him, de gozaru."

Mana turned her head from the ninja and said, "Whatever."

Back at the villa:

"Wah! I never knew both Naruto-sensei and Negi-sensei had such a hard life!" Konoka mentioned as she hugged the two boys close, as some of them had tears in their eyes.

"I'm sorry, you had to see that, here." Naruto unsurely handed Konoka a handkerchief as she said, "Don't be, Naruto-sensei."

After that, she wiped her tears away with Naruto's handkerchief as the blonde sensei grinned at this, "Don't worry, I've learned already and things changed. So there's no need to worry about me, whatever it is that you want to say, I'm sure I would already have them by now. Besides, Negi needs more support than I could, he's still a kid after all."

It was quite puzzling seeing a calm Naruto-sensei in their midst right now, they've known for a fact that Naruto was energetic, boisterous and cheery, this one seemed calm, accepting, and mature. A far cry as to what Naruto was when he was with them during class or any other time that they see him.

"Quite a surprise if you ask me." Mentioned Asakura as she watched the blonde walk away and saw his clones had been much calmer than earlier.

"Don't be." Konohamaru mentioned as he woke up. He had just realized that his body had just recovered well; it was probably thanks to Konoka.

"Many of us had tragedies we want to keep ourselves, Naruto-nii just tends to drive it down to the point people won't question him." Konohamaru said this as he got up and stretched. Strangely enough, he could feel his chakra replenishing nearing his top form. Was it because of Konoka's healing powers?

"Tell me, Konohamaru-sensei, what is this 'THING' that Naruto's memories keep implying?"

"Thing?" Konohamaru looked puzzled at this and realized that it was probably the Kyuubi.

"Oh, that. Well, it's not in my place to say it. It's rather personal for someone like Naruto-nii. I wouldn't recommend snooping in on his personal life, it's… Rather not in himself to reveal about it, especially how he grew up, he says that he should forget that it even happened."

Questions raised more for this particular subject as Asakura investigated. Perhaps a trip to Library Island would hold some of the answers she needed especially the terms that hinted her very close to discovering the answers.

Everyone went outside while the clones remained in the villa as they continued to discuss with one another. As they went their separate ways, Naruto was still talking to Eva over a cup of tea about the seal and discussing to her the effects that he's been looking for while Chachamaru was serving the both of them. Konohamaru had headed back first, most likely going with Negi and the rest to quell the downpour outside.

"I'm probably sixty percent done by now, deciding what kind of seal needed was the biggest hurdle I've had. The main issue is the time allotted to give you your freedom, probably a minute or two at most, but it's a first step." Naruto mentioned grinning as he did so. Evangeline nodded at this when she felt a slight tug to her senses, she didn't know where it came from, but she dismissed it as something from her imagination.

A second and a third one just happened to disrupt her thoughts when she noticed a ghost girl heading towards them from above and a ninja landing on the wet ground just outside their house.

"Naruto-sensei!" Both shouted as they reached for the blonde who looked at them questioningly.

"There's a group of demons that made it through the barrier, I was hoping to acquire you're aid, de gozaru." Kaede mentioned while Naruto scratched the back of his head at this.

"Well, I don't see why not… But what are those things doing here?" He asked and the ninja answered him.

"That's what I intend to find out." She said, Evangeline turned her head slightly at this, "Let the Bouya handle this one, their power feels like easy pickings as it is."

"Not to rain on your parade, Eva-chan but I can't exactly sense what you're sensing. So I'm not reassured of you gauging their strength. I think I'll go after them right now."

Eva's tongue clicked in annoyance and said, "Do whatever you want."

"Naruto-sensei, I found this really weird piece of paper in the forest! I was wondering if this was yours!" Sayo shouted at the top her lungs as she brought the paper directly at Naruto.

The blonde looked at it with confusion on his face as he scratched his head at this.

"Wow, a new seal… I wonder what this does." Naruto mused as he pocketed it, he didn't have time for this, and those demons most likely were already causing havoc.

Before he could walk away from the cottage, another white light enveloped him once more, causing him, Chachamaru, Eva, Kaede and Sayo to look surprised before vanishing. What was left was the paper seal that Sayo found on the ground, its central letter became blood red as the other letters were black. As the paper gently swayed with the wind before landing on the ground and sticking itself into it, the only sound that could be heard was the sound of the drizzling rain.

* * *

Konohamaru:

Konohamaru found it absolutely annoying that he didn't bring an umbrella, the weather today was completely unexpected. Then again, both he and Naruto don't listen or watch what was on the news. Most of the time they were training, working, doing chores and figuring out a way to get home, so listening to the news wasn't exactly a priority for them. So far, with Naruto's sealing methods, there was no luck. It could be the fact that Naruto had to do the seal by scratch, but thankfully, from what Fukasaku-sama had said about the theory of the linking worlds, it would be a cinch to get back.

The problem was the perfect seal to get them back without doing a significant amount of damage to this one. He found it strange though, Naruto had full control of the Kyuubi's chakra when they made the seal, the blonde said so himself. So how come when they were back at Konoha, he felt a slight tug of chakra coming from the blonde, and it wasn't just any chakra, it was the Kyuubi's, the overwhelming feeling of the Nine-tails' power was leaking, or seeping out of the boy when they were about to be pulled. If the blonde had full control, then why was it coming out without the blonde having an idea that it was?

His frown turned to a scowl as he looked up at the dark grey coloured skies while he headed back. Konoka was nice enough to lend him an umbrella; she said it was to keep him from getting soaked. Konohamaru had to admit, the girl was nice and always meant well, even if she was sort of a ditz sometimes. A smile escaped his lips but not for too long, as he heard the sound of the girls screaming. He wasn't too far off from the dorms when he was about to head home, he turned back and saw Asakura, Yue, Nodoka and Kuu Fei knocked out and being taken away by a massive blob of slime.

"Oi, what's going on here?" He asked as he went after the naked quartet, he blushed and staggered a little before going after the blob of whatever that thing was.

"Crap, we got discovered!" One of them shouted, as they began to pick up the pace with Konohamaru keeping with them.

"Hurry, we have to lose him before he discovers where we're going to meet up!" The other one continued.

"I said, stop!" Konohamaru shouted as he began to put his hand in a sequence of seals.

"Meddlesome pest…"

Konohamaru immediately stopped his run; he didn't sense the man that was on his back, wearing a trench coat and covered his face with a simple hat, so startled was Konohamaru that he didn't have a chance to counter before he felt something heavy from the back of his neck.

'_Damn… I never noticed his presence all along.' _It was the last of his thoughts before succumbing to the darkness.

"You three should be more careful in making a getaway route, because of this, our mission was almost compromised." The man informed them as he chucked the brunette towards the trio.

"Should we kill him then?"

"No, that would only put the school on an alert level that would ultimately hunt us down to the last one. We're going to take him with us. He's an unforeseen factor here after all." The man said and turned back from the slime sisters.

"Where are you going?" One of them asked, the man simply turned back to them and gave a simple smile.

"A small detour, I need to have a word with our old friend of course."

"What about the other one?"

"Don't worry about the vampire and the one known as the tempest, they are both busy with someone else."

The slime sisters smiled with glee at this, "Are you talking about _him_?"

"Yes, but I advise that you do not associate with him because of his belligerent tendencies, he doesn't discern ally from enemy. But because of his overwhelming power, he would be more than enough for those two."

A few hours later:

Konohamaru heard whisperings once more, mumbles he couldn't quite catch, and then everything became clear, his hearing was the first to return, then his sense of smell, he could smell the scent of rain that was clearly invading his nose, it seemed that the storm was far from over, and then his sense touch, he could feel his arms extended, a cold draft escaped his person as his spine shivered.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT'S DAMN COLD, WHAT THE HELL?" He shouted as he looked down on his person, he was bound to a wall where he was only clad in his boxers. He growled at this and looked around. It wasn't even the pair he wore today!

"There better be a good explanation for this." Konohamaru muttered as he looked down and saw Asuna in a rather risqué outfit and the rest of the girls were inside of some orb that was down below at the stage, the fact that most of them weren't wearing anything had Konohamaru blushing as he said with an annoyed tone,

"Now I know I'm in some sicko's fantasy."

"Oh, you're awake. I'd thought you would be out cold for much longer due to that blow. I have to say, you have a pretty good warrior's disposition with you, even though its faint, I can smell the traces of blood with you, were you a killer perhaps?"

To this, many of the girls that didn't know Konohamaru's secret were terribly shocked, they backed away as Konohamaru remained silent from his position before saying to the man, "No, I'm a soldier."

"Kind of young for one such as yourself to be part of a military force, don't you think?"

"We're supposed to be part of the force when we're twelve. You'd be surprised how many people younger than you can kick your ass back home." Konohamaru mentioned with a fierce grin as the man had a thoughtful look.

"Yes quite, but I don't see the point of you boasting about some faraway home when you're bound like that." The old man mentioned in a calm voice as if unconcerned of Konohamaru's words.

"Perhaps, but my master isn't one to take this sitting down. He'd come here and obliterate you. It's just a matter of time." Konohamaru threatened the old man below that was standing before Asuna as he smiled.

"I don't think he would come, much less the vampire, let's say, they're pre-occupied right now."

Konohamaru frowned this time, what could possibly keep Naruto and Evangeline busy against these asswipes? This was NARUTO they were talking about, the Scarlet Tempest, the guy who killed Uchiha Madara, the man that stopped the completion of the Juubi. Unless they have a Kage level ninja or worse, a freaking bijuu on their side, Naruto wouldn't be stopped just like that.

"You honestly think that a bunch of you low grade thugs could actually _stop _Naruto or even Eva? I don't think you've been well informed here."

"Oh yes we are, in fact, we KNOW he can keep them busy because of his power. With just one mighty swing from his tail, he levelled a mountain to prove a point that his power exists. He strong armed his way to our little operation if only to get a battle with that blonde boy."

Many of the girls were now listening intently as the old man spoke, "Tell me boy, have you ever heard of the Japanese legend of the Tanuki?"

"The tricksters like the foxes, right? Well, of course, I do. What's this got to do with your guardian?" Konohamaru retorted.

"Guardian? No, no, he's more of collateral than a guardian, we honestly expected to go to this mission and assess the threat level of Asuna Kagurazaka and Negi Springfield, but circumstances allowed us to be given the chance to do this operation much more smoothly." The old man informed his casually as he continued, "Well, this tanuki happens to be big, and he had a lot of weird markings on his body. Do you know what's worse? It's the fact that he can manipulate the grains of sand that literally make up his body. If he were in a desert, I shudder to think of the destruction he can do."

Konohamaru's scowl didn't bulge as he listened to the man talk, he clearly didn't like where this was going.

"Let's twist the legend now, shall we? What would you call a beast with a tail and is as tall as a towering sky scrapper?" He asked as Konohamaru's suspicions were being confirmed.

"Bijuu." He answered reluctantly as the man nodded. "My, my, our young anomaly answered correct, perhaps he isn't such an anomaly, after all?"

To this, the man asked Konohamaru with a smile, "If you know that answer perhaps you would care to know where they came from or how many are there?"

"Why so interested?" Konohamaru asked, the man simply answered, "It's none of your business."

"Then here's my answer." Konohamaru retorted, a grin plastering on his face, "It's none of your business."

The man's smile slowly turned to a frown as Konohamaru gave him that cheeky grin.

"I suppose… It would be great if someone like you could tell us their origin. Unlimited sources of energy doesn't come by often. Let alone a sentient creature made up of energy." The man hinted and that was when Konohamaru was sure.

A bijuu was in this world.

He didn't know how but he couldn't care. These people had now clearly known the existence of the nine beasts.

Or at least, what's part of it, he would dare not to say anymore about them than he should. His master's life would be in grave danger.

"But no matter, I suppose even if these creatures didn't have any records placed on them, I'm sure we can discover if we manage to pry out that information from your mind."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Konohamaru had suddenly remembered that one battle that Naruto told him back in his days as genin, the first time he took the Chuunin Exam.

And then, he laughed. He laughed so hard, that his stomach ached, so hard that tears were falling out of his eyes as he asked the old man.

"Konohamaru-sensei's losing it." Asuna looked above and was astonished to find that the brunette was still laughing.

"Tell me, old man, what was the name of the creature that could control sand?" Konohamaru asked out of nowhere as the man simply gave an answer.

"Ichibi no Shukaku."

Konohamaru laughed once more, this time, louder.

"Let me tell you something about your bijuu, old man. My master faced it and defeated it before. What makes you think it wouldn't be defeated now?" Konohamaru asked with that smile on his face, from the looks that Konohamaru had seen of the man, he was suddenly taken back by this statement.

"Do not speak of such improbable bluff. Neither human nor demon can stand against that beast. Its malevolent powers are near limitless."

"Tell that to the guy who head butted Shukaku so bad that it destroyed his body." Konohamaru said, now that was the bluff. The man clearly did not like this one bit. Naruto only managed to headbutt Gaara who was trying hard to maintain the form of the Shukaku with his chakra.

The girls however, looked impressed at Naruto's accomplishment. He was able to defeat a demon with a single headbutt? How badass was that?

"Is he serious? A single headbutt destroyed a demon that can flatten mountains?" Asakura asked to no one in particular, Konohamaru seemed neither confirming that statement nor denying it. Kazumi was sure to have something big to dig up from their sensei that came out of nowhere.

Wilhelm was taken aback by this. If this person's master was as strong as he said, then that diversion would only be a matter of time before it was over. He prayed that the boy would get here fast and finish this reconnaissance mission.

"What's the matter, you're too unsure now that you know that my master would be too strong for him to handle?" Konohamaru asked, now stalling for time, with the man's mind in distraught, he could very well loosen his shackles and take this guy out. He could have done so earlier, but not having the ability to sense chakra was a pain in the ass right here.

It was then that seventeen arrows of wind came raining down on the old man who seemed unhurt due to Asuna's ability.

They had arrived. Negi and Kotaro stood side by side as they faced the old man who was at the front stage.

The child teacher, without hesitation in his voice, spoke to Wilhelm with a firm tone.

"Let my students go… Or you will face my wrath."

"Leave Chizu-nee out of this, you sick bastard!" Kotaro shouted this as he squatted down and was about to charge at the man.

Konohamaru, who had by now managed to slip by the knots that bound him at the top, just watched wordlessly as both Negi and the dog boy, much to his surprise; try to take on the old coot.

The keyword being 'try'.

Both of them were suddenly caught up with each other's weaknesses that they were caught off guard with the slime sisters. Seeing as this was the perfect time to fight back. Konohamaru loosened his grip and forced chakra into his legs, with a huge leap, Konohamaru speed to the three slime sisters like a speeding bullet.

Konohamaru knew that Raiton was one of his main problems, what with being the element that he focused less on due to the shortage of lightning Jutsu however, this being one of the few exceptions that he found courtesy of his grandfather's scrolls. It was an experimental jutsu that Sarutobi once tried in his youth, that being concentrating lightning chakra around the body and using it as a spear like attack at the enemy. It was fast and it hit hard but the problem was it was too straight forward and it usually resulted of him hitting hard on the pavement if he didn't time it perfectly.

With a shout, Konohamaru dove straight towards the slime sisters who held the two at their mercy.

"Raiton: Kourai Shougeki! (Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder Crash)" Konohamaru dove like a speeding bullet at the three, hitting the slime sisters dead on. A minor explosion escaped him as Negi, Kotaro and Konohamaru were forced back by the impact, more so on Konohamaru.

"Got to work on the 'crashing' part of the jutsu…" Konohamaru stood up as he turned his head back to the old man with a wicked grin to his face.

"Payback time, asshole, you're going down."

The old man's eyes narrowed at the brunette and turned back to the slime girls that were electrocuted. It was clear they were down for the count.

"Ah, the tree hugger-nii-san! It's been a long time since we last fought!"

"Yeah, I kind of noticed, and call me Konohamaru, tree hugger is an insult." The brunette reminded him. The brunette cracked his knuckles and grinned as he looked at the sack of wrinkles that was calmly watching them.

"Get ready, you old sack of bones, our counter attack starts here!"

* * *

In an unknown place:

The first thing she could feel was the sand in her face, she stood up and looked around, and found that they were in a sandy dune. Sand was everywhere for miles around that she could see. The most peculiar thing was, the sky was purple today, a different one to the dark grey clouds that recently covered Mahora.

The lone wind howled as the sandy dunes began to pick up, she looked around and found Naruto and Evangeline standing and looking around the dunes, both having worried looks about their faces.

"I don't like this feeling that I'm getting." Evangeline mumbled while the blonde was silent for a while. Something about this place was terribly, terribly familiar.

"Are you okay now, Nagase-san?" Chachamaru asked and the ninja nodded. Kaede looked at the cyborg that was holding a kettle in her hands when the warp happened.

"What happened?" She asked, as Naruto, being the seals expert, explained.

"We were sucked into a time and space seal, I don't know the exact details of what the seal probably did, but it's safe to say it's temporary."

"Why is that?" The vampire asked, Naruto gave the answer, "That's because there's a structure at the back that has a large seal placed on it. From what I know, it's an anchor to pull people that go through that seal once something goes wrong. The questions that need to be answered are: who was able to do this and WHAT is sealed in here?"

"How come you're so familiar with this seal then, Uzumaki?" Evangeline asked.

"That's because I designed this seal, this is the seal that I used to rediscover the full blown ability of the Hiraishin no Jutsu while I'm still in this form. It looks like they managed to integrate the seal well. How did they even get their hands on this? It's supposed to be placed on MY world!" Naruto shouted, the fact that the seal was gone from his world would have been explained now that this happened.

And with this particular discovery, they needed to get out. But the problem was, something was integrated into the seal, preventing them from heading back. Naruto could feel the chakra flowing but there was something disrupting it, something that kept them from going back.

Perhaps if he went into sage mode, he would understand the chakra flow better.

The blonde closed his eyes and letting the energy of the world take over him. He could feel a lot of it here; it was so dense that it was almost weighing him down.

It was then that something entered into his senses and hit him like a truck.

EVERYTHING around him, there was an enormous amount of chakra!

Something about this now worried Naruto, the last time he had felt this was when…

"**YYYYAAAAAHOOOOO! I FINALLY GET TO SEE YOU AGAIN, YOU BLASTED VESSEL OF THE KYUUBI NO YOUKO!"** Naruto stopped, that familiar voice entered into his ears like a lightning bolt, he turned around and saw the Ichibi no Shukaku standing before them, and it wasn't standing proud, no, it was leaning down and staring at him. It obviously remembered the time he managed to stop attaining its freedom. Back then, he managed to put a stop to Gaara by hitting him awake. And although a headbutt sufficed, he doubted he could do it here.

"**NOW IT'S ****MY**** TURN TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP… THIS TIME, PERMANENTLY!"**

"I've never felt such malicious energy before… Is this what you were saying about the bijuu, by what you said last time, these things are ranked with how many tails they posses, right? But is this the weakest of the nine bijuu?" Evangeline asked, the feeling of the seal affecting her greatly. She was too weak right now, fortunately, Chachamaru was there to aid her.

Naruto could only give a simple nod. He had to get them away from this psychotic monster as soon as possible, possibly where his sand and his eyes can't reach them.

Once the Shukaku's arms were outstretched, Naruto shouted as loud as he could, "GET AWAY FROM HERE, NOW! THAT THING CAN CONTROL THE SAND; IF YOU'RE CAUGHT IN IT YOU'RE DEAD!"

It was then that wisps of sand began to dance around them before surrounding them like a dome.

"**NOW DIE!" **The tanuki yelled before countless pillars of sand became thin enough that it became javelins.

The dome was then impaled by these countless javelins made of sand as the Shukaku laughed out in glee.

"Just in time…" Evangeline muttered as she felt her magic coming back to her, the dome of sand collapsed as Naruto, whose right arm was now outstretched to Evangeline, managed to place a seal on to her back, the effect of the seal disrupted its earlier one by having the first one temporarily overwritten. The vampire now looked older, more feminine, more… Robust than her former one.

"How many minutes till the effects wore off?" Evangeline asked not looking at the blonde who was still in sage mode.

"Two minutes." Naruto replied now walking to Evangeline's side. This time, he looked absolutely serious in the fight.

Kaede, with Chachamaru's help, landed safely beside the currently most powerful duo.

"More than enough." Evangeline mentioned with that wicked grin of hers as she floated upwards and raised her right hand and began chanting spells.

"Splash apart my foe, three hundred spirits of ice, I summon thee!" All around Evangeline, three hundred wisps of blue light gathered around her, her magical reserves going higher and higher by the second.

"**YOU'RE TOO SLOW!"** The one tailed racoon shouted as it opened its mouth and a shot of compressed air escaped from it.

"Fuuton: Renkuudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)!"

"Not on my watch!" Naruto shouted as he appeared beside the Shukaku with his Kawazu Kumite form and punching its rather enormous maw.

The result was Shukaku's face swinging to the other side and ultimately, its jutsu missing Evangeline by a huge margin.

Evangeline grinned at this as she shouted, "Magical Barrage: Three Hundred Arrows of ice!"

A proverbial hailstorm then rained upon the monster as it pummelled Shukaku with its ice, freezing anything that it touches. The Shukaku growled at this as it trashed about from the hailstorm of ice and snow.

It then went down, like a gigantic hunk of wood, its lumber descending right below Evangeline as she laughed.

"Oh, my magic, how I missed thee!" She said in glee as she gloated and said to the blonde, "Now do you see? This is the power of the dark evangel! I am Evangeline, Nosferatu, fear my immeasurable power!"

Shukaku merely growled at this as it suddenly forced its way out of his glacial confinement. Its torn parts regenerating as the sand around it began to form.

"**THAT HURT! THAT HURT, THAT HURT, THAT HURT! THAT HURT, YOU PUNY SACK OF FLESH!"**

It was then that countless pillars of sand began erupting on the dunes below, rumbling as the enraged bijuu began forming monstrous hands with the pillars around it.

Chachamaru and Kaede had managed to evade the thing so far, but if that thing manages to get anymore crazy, they would utterly be destroyed. Naruto for the most part, had been riding the sand with his chakra, staying above it and not getting caught, the traction that his chakra provided gave him the edge in speed as he continued to manage himself well despite the terrain advantage of the beast.

"I need to end this now… This thing would only recover from the attacks that we make, we can't do anything substantial to it and I doubt even Eva-chan would have enough magic to outlast this thing."

With that in mind, Naruto began pouring chakra with his right hand after he created two shadow clones, pouring as much chakra and concentrating as hard as he can.

"Queen of eternity, bound unto me by my contract, I call upon thee, darkness that is unending!"

Evangeline shouted, as the bijuu's monstrous hands made of sand began to hound her like a hungry beast.

Surprised by the speed of the said hands, she never noticed that the monster was now charging up and gathering raw chakra into its mouth, compressing it to a sphere until it was the size of a full grown man.

"**DIE!"**

The beast shouted as it let out a mighty roar before firing the menacing ball straight at Evangeline.

**BOOM!

* * *

**

To be Continued…

Phew, that was one tough fight to write, and now I've finally made my clincher, truthfully, I was deciding what Naruto's purpose would be in such a world when his mission is over to his side. And since many would consider the vanishing of the tailed beast leaving more questions than answers to the end, I've decided to choose this over something as absurd as the one I thought earlier.

Enjoy this chapter, I know I did, there would be much more to come as Naruto and Konohamaru's part in this story is just starting to show.

Until then, I bid you, adieu but not before leaving out a review or two.

Pretty please?


	16. Power

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Sixteen: Power

* * *

Sayo was scared, she was really scared. That monster was causing chaos and was running wild in this place, she didn't know what happened but seeing Naruto-sensei looking troubled like that, it made her worry about the blonde more.

The bloodlust that the kaiju like beast emanated was so strong that she was much more transparent than normal, the fact that his rampage was showing was willing her instinct to hide somewhere far away. If only she could not see the horrors that came out of the monsters mouth.

But with that huge blast, everything suddenly felt so slow, she watched as this beast aimed that enormous ball of destruction towards Evangeline and watched in slow motion as it went to the vampire in blinding speeds. She couldn't react, she didn't know what to do in this situation, all she could do was watch helplessly as the only corporeal people struggle for their lives against this monster, no, demon.

"EVA!" The blonde shouted, his jutsu barely starting, could only watch from the other side as it was about to hit Evangeline dead on. He was so focused on avoiding the sand that he failed to guard Evangeline and now, the consequences were showing. The small orb that was a mere size of a man expanded as soon as Shukaku fired it, it expanded like a balloon and as the size grew bigger, it's speed also grew in proportion to it.

The Imari (menacing ball) was a trademark move of any bijuu, he knew that. It was the proof of their near limitless chakra and destructive nature. Kyuubi, in particular, would use this move whenever it can, and liked it so much that it was the first thing the monster did against him when their showdown began. If Naruto had to describe this technique, he had only two words for it, 'total obliteration'.

Evangeline's spell was already disrupted when those monstrous hands made their way towards her, and although her flying was better than it was when she faced Negi for the first time, her skill was rusty compared to her skill before she got sealed. She had the mobility alright, but the Shukaku's sand had both of mobility AND speed, the damn arms were flexible and were relentless in trying to crush her. It's not that she feared death, she was immortal after all, but even immortals feel pain, and this guy can probably dish out as much pain as his size tells him. From what she could gather, the Shukaku's ability to use sand as its main weapons tells her that the main purpose of the sand was to crush opponents or victims as it was the much appropriate term for the Shukaku's foes.

But what really surprised her was what happened next.

She couldn't tell anymore when she began evading those tendrils of sand that kept chasing her wherever she went, but the voice of the Shukaku telling her to perish and the sound barrier breaking was all she heard before a white light surrounded her vision and the feeling of half of her body destroyed in seconds.

"Master!" Chachamaru shouted. Watching in abject horror as the resounding explosion threw her thrusters off balance and sent her crashing to the ground with the resulting shockwave.

Kaede braced herself from the powerful shockwave that sent walls of sand towards her. It was only thanks to her distance that she was able to remain standing and thankfully alive. She couldn't say the same to Eva though.

"BASTARD! THE GLOVES COME OFF RIGHT NOW!" Naruto shouted this time; he was enraged by this as he jumped and kicked Shukaku by the chest, redirecting natural chakra by his right foot and successfully threw the beast of balance.

A clone appeared to his side as another jumped at Shukaku and kicked the monster at its gigantic maw staggering it back.

The clone at Naruto's side began pouring chakra into his hand as a Rasengan came to life, but not before it expanded, it grew, and grew, grew to the point that the giant orb was now twice the size of Naruto.

"Cho Oodama Rasengan (Super Great Ball Spiralling Sphere)!" The blonde then charged at the tailed beast and gave a fierce war cry as he drove the said technique straight at the beast's chest. A giant explosion shattered the whole area Naruto and the Shukaku met, before they saw the giant racoon was actually tossed away from ground zero. Its chest was now caved in to the inside; the resulting technique carved a crater at the intended target. The Shukaku gave a fierce cry as it felt the pain coursing through its chest.

"**DAMN YOU TO HELL, KYUUBI VESSEL! DAMN YOU TO HELL!"**

"I should be more focused on the fight if I were you, you stupid raccoon!" Naruto retorted as the smoke cleared, the blonde was now standing with three clones beside, the loud grinding noise of his technique reached towards the ears of the people that were still conscious, they watched in pure awe and anticipation as the wind around the blonde blew away the sand and smoke around him.

The windmill like energy weapon was spinning wildly above him; the grinding noise that it gave was a reminder of how fast it was rotating in his palm. From so far away, Kaede could actually feel the power coming from the said technique while the blonde continue to pump chakra into it. The epitome of shape and elemental manipulation, this was Naruto's very own technique.

"Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken! (Wind Release: Spiralling Shuriken)"

Naruto then threw the energy weapon straight at the Shukaku, its spin brought about a near perfect circular shape as it raced over to the intended target. The blades expanded and grew three times as that of the original's size before it tore through Shukaku at the waist in a perfectly clean slice as it gave off an enormous explosion that sent debris and sand scattering everywhere. The technique exploded in a giant ball of light as the ground beneath it was wholly consumed by this.

When the explosion cleared, Naruto could see the substantial damage that he did to Shukaku and its surrounding area. Naruto had manage to tear the beast apart before part of its upper half was consumed by the billions of microscopic needles that ate away at its body. Its lower half crumbled to dust when it was disconnected to Shukaku's presence.

It gave a menacing growl and a horrible screech before it shouted to the blonde in complete gibberish, **"CURSE YOU, KYUUBI VESSEL, CURSE YOU! THE AGONY THAT I'M EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW, I'LL DOUBLE IT TO YOU BY THE TIME I RECOVER!"**

"**MY HUMILIATION AGAINST YOU BACK THEN, AGAINST THAT BOY WHO DEFEATED MY WEAK VESSEL, I'LL REDEEM MYSELF WITH YOUR SUFFERING!"** The tendrils of sand then started to go to the one tailed beast once more, repairing any damage that Naruto's jutsu had created, albeit it was noticeably slower this time. Naruto quickly noticed this as the Shukaku bided his time with speaking.

Two loud blasts were heard then when Chachamaru kept bombarding the beasts with her magical restraining bullets. She was only armed with a small handgun as she tried to restrain the beast on the ground who merely growled out in annoyance. A wave of chakra suddenly lashed out at her and destabilized her flight. Naruto managed to save her with a timed catch and settled her on the ground.

"Shukaku isn't like that stick summon you people call a god, 'Sukuna'. He's far too ruthless and his sand is almost too impossible to avoid. Leave the fighting to me." Naruto mentioned as Chachamaru simply nodded.

"Hmph, for a beast of unprecedented proportions, his abilities seem simple enough that I'm actually unimpressed. He's just a beast with a lot of power."

Naruto suddenly turned around and saw Evangeline, in her adult form and naked no less. Naruto had to hide his blush by staring back at the Shukaku, who by now had half of its upper body recovered, his tail and lower torso also starting to reform.

"If sand and those blasts are all he's got then I've got nothing to worry about." Evangeline said this as Naruto had a raised eyebrow at this.

"Big talk for someone who got blasted in half by that Imari, you're lucky that attack is only powerful with the number of tails that it corresponds to. If you were a human that thing would have reduced you to nothing."

"Who do you think you're talking to, Uzumaki?" Evangeline mentioned as the banter between the two seemingly uninterrupted even when Shukaku's upper half was starting to take shape again.

"Someone who got blasted with a chakra based technique that can cause city wide devastation. Look, are we going to finish this or not?" Naruto asked this while jumping up when the Shukaku fired another Renkuudan at them. Eva growled at Naruto's return as she raised her right hand, once more, she chanted the words for her spell to activate.

"Queen of eternity, bound unto me by my contract, I call upon thee, darkness that is unending!"

Shukaku wasted no time as it gathered bubbles of its malicious chakra once more into its mouth, its tail suddenly sprouting from the sand as it arched forward and leaned close to its head. Eva could now see it, the attack that managed to damage her so much. It was pitch black, dark and unstable. She could see the orb shaking as it tried to maintain its state just near the Shukaku's jagged maw.

She scowled at this now attaining the perfect time to do the spell.

"Eternal Glacier!"

The place became several degrees colder, everything around Shukaku suddenly dropped in temperature to an absolute zero. Before it could let go another menacing ball, the Shukaku had suddenly froze. As if a huge iceberg had decided to drop on the creature, the ice instantly encompassed the entire body of the beast and remained in place as Shukaku stood frozen with its tail still arching at the front of its head.

Eva then turned her upward after aiming her spell and proceeded to clasp it gently, her middle finger and thumb meeting.

"To all living things, an equal death… Cataclysmic Shatter!"

Eva snapped her fingers as the ice instantly created creaks and crevices on the monster's face and a loud rumbling was heard before the ice turned to innumerable pieces falling to the bed of golden sand below it.

Naruto whistled, obviously impressed at this as his sage mode had timely ran out.

"Pretty impressive spell, Eva-chan."

"Your technique earlier as well, I never saw any wind magic that can do such a substantial damage like that." She said as she closed her eyes and turned her back from the remains of the Shukaku. The seal running out of power as a plume of smoke erupted from Eva's person and out came Evangeline in a child's appearance once more.

"Damn, two minutes were already up?" The girl said as Naruto tossed her his red and black haori to cover herself. The blonde was now wearing a black shirt under his green flak vest and orange pants.

"Where do you think you're going?" Naruto asked and the vampire had a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I obviously killed that thing, correct? My power was enough to end that thing's life." Eva mentioned with a raised eyebrow, Naruto simply shook his head.

"You're clearly misunderstanding the bijuus' very existence."

* * *

With Konohamaru:

"A question first before we start, my young anomaly." The old man courteously asked as he gave a smile.

"Well, I've got time before we can kick your ass, but sure, go ahead and shoot." Konohamaru said this as the man nodded with a chuckle.

"The Bijuu, are they an everlasting source of power?" he asked, Konohamaru grew annoyed at this. It was clear that these people were interested in those malevolent creatures.

"I can't answer that, we didn't really use their power for energy, we can do that well with seals and a natural source for anything we can come up. All I can say is that they're things that are made up of massive amounts of chakra." He said.

"Even so, if that body was destroyed, it was able to restore itself in corporeal form with a new one. That in itself, could be proof of its everlasting power." Wilhelm said this as he stood before Konohamaru, Negi and Kotaro, seemingly unafraid.

"That's true, the bijuu aren't exactly biological creatures to begin with. Sure they can feel pain and can communicate with the human language, but those things are neither exactly alive nor dead." Konohamaru mentioned this; he knew a good lie was a lie with a mix of truth in it. He was careful not to give away more details about the lore of the tailed beasts. Not only did he fear for his master's life, he also feared for the possibility of discovering their true origin; shards of a past that should have been left alone.

"W-What are you saying, Konohamaru-sensei… And what exactly are these bijuu you keep talking about?" Konoka asked, she could feel the bubble slowly collapsing around them.

"Like I said, they're masses of chakra, a natural living force, energy. Back in my world, chakra is the source of all Ninjutsu, it's life energy. We humans could only have so much of it. The closest thing a person can get to a level of a tailed beast's chakra is constant physical and mental training it's almost impossible if you can't dedicate your whole life to your profession. The Bijuu are just that, massive amounts of chakra, they don't exactly have a biological form, but they are corporeal nonetheless, it's all too confusing if you think about it." Konohamaru explained.

"So these bijuu are just mindless beasts with incredible amounts of power?" Asakura asked, Konohamaru shook his head.

"No, didn't you listen? They can communicate with the human language, so it's safe to say that they have a fair amount of intelligence. The problem is, these things barely listen to reason, if not, at all. The bijuu are malevolent things that have the basal instinct of a serial killer, they cause wanton destruction to anything that their sights are set on. Unlike these chumps here, the Bijuu can't be taken down with any known technique there is."

"So these things are essentially immortal?" Wilhelm asked and Konohamaru looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You know, for having pride of being a smart man, you're a pretty stupid moron that thinks that the powers of the tailed beast could be easily harnessed like that. You should have already been warned before when you met the Ichibi no Shukaku. Like when a kid gets a shiny new toy, he easily wants to know more about it. Or a spoiled brat that wants to collect the whole set for him to enjoy. I suggest backing out of knowing what the bijuu are and how you can harness them. I mean it." Konohamaru warned as Wilhelm chuckled.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. Those tailed beasts, you see, will bring us to power unprecedented to what we had before!"

Konohamaru gave a devilish grin at this as he said, "Fair enough, this just gives me more motivation to kick your ass some more."

* * *

With Naruto's group:

"So killing it is impossible. Those things are malevolent pieces of chakra, they're shards of a greater beast that can subjugate an entire world with its single eye. Well, energy shards, that is. And because chakra can't entirely dissipate and just disappear like that, these things are basically immortals and the only way to stop them is to seal them." Naruto said this as he stood up and looked at the fallen pieces of the Shukaku that were shaking violently as it tried to reform once more.

"But I seem to not have any sealing object with me. If we're going to submit this thing down to a seal, I at least need a container to place it on." Naruto mentioned as Chachamaru approached forward handing over a kettle that she had ridiculously strapped on her waist.

"Will this kettle do, Naruto-sensei?" She asked, Naruto gave a huge grin at this and said in affirmation, "This is MORE than enough, it's perfect!"

"I am sorry for letting Naruto-sensei use your tea kettle, master, but seems it's the only appropriate item for us to use right now." Chachamaru said while Eva only nodded.

"Luck would have never graced us this much before than now. Go ahead in give it to him, I see no value in it." Evangeline said as Naruto nodded.

"Alright now I need that thing to reform and bind it, not a single ounce of its chakra should be left out or the container breaks apart since the bijuu's chakra is attracted to any identical source. If even a small amount of the Shukaku's chakra escapes, then the sealing fails."

"Leave that to me, de gozaru." Kaede said as she gave a small grin, she had the perfect technique to bind that monster in, if only a variant of the technique she was working on.

"Well this is pretty convenient out of all of us, and just when Eva-chan's seal had run out."

"Can't you make another, then?" Evangeline asked and Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry, no more fuuda right now. And if I drew a seal on your back it wouldn't do any good, the seal would be permanently useless whenever I try to set you free." Naruto mentioned this as he sighed.

"So I want you to stand back for a while and we'll handle the rest. You can relax for a moment. Besides, I doubt you're feeling well after recovering from that blast earlier on."

Eva had to grit her teeth, the blonde was right, she was in no condition to fight. The fact that she tried her regenerative magic took a lot out of her. It was one of those days when she considered her cursed blood as a blessing.

"All right, we're ready for the sealing. Hopefully, we can do this in less than thirty minutes. I'm getting really hungry right now since its dinner time." Naruto said and gently touched his stomach to emphasize his point.

Eva rolled her eyes at this, trust the simpleton to put priority to his stomach than what was happening right now.

"Umm… What should I do, Naruto-sensei?" Sayo had asked who now appeared by Eva's side as Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly at this.

"I had totally forgotten about you, Sayo-chan, sorry about that. Don't worry. I've got an idea in mind, that is, if you're willing to put up with it?"

Sayo gave a pout that Naruto found cute from the ghost girl before finally nodding. Naruto then turned back to the demon that was by now forming and grinned.

"Alright, we're going to be ending this in one fell swoop!"

* * *

Negi's Group:

Kotaro had showed Negi the bottle that they would need to seal the demon away. Much to the surprise of Konohamaru, it confirmed that Wilhelm Josef von Herman is actually a monster in a human's disguise.

To Konohamaru, this was a good thing, because he didn't feel like holding back.

Konohamaru jumped straight to Wilhelm with a punch ready, the demon under a human's skin sidestepped the attack and went for Konohamaru's neck, going for a swift chop to the back of the neck. The brunette remembered this well, Naruto had done it to him back at the villa without as much as a problem. To him, the demon was sloppier than Naruto-nii.

Konohamaru quickly twisted his body and grabbed the man's wrist as he flowed with the man's swing before reacting and giving a swift kick to the chin. The man staggered back as Negi chanted the battle hymn, Cantus Bellax, boosting his physical abilities. With that done, Negi was immediate to deliver an elbow strike to Wilhelm's side while Kotaro went for a kick at the man's chin sending him flying. Konohamaru quickly followed up by clasping his hands together and weaving through seals.

"Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Skill)!"

Konohamaru then took a deep breath, his lungs expanding as he did so and breathe fire with his mouth. The fireball expanding to a size that was at least twice the size of its caster, and hit Wilhelm dead on with cataclysmic results. It sent the man crashing to the ground, just between Konohamaru and the two boys. Many of the girls were horrified as they watched the man incinerated.

But Konohamaru was no fool. He knew that the monster would be tougher than that. He knew that the jutsu he did wouldn't be enough. He wanted to test how long the demon would last.

The man grunted as he got out of the flames, his coat badly damaged as part of his cheek was now badly burned. Some parts of the hem of the coat were now badly damaged, eaten away by the flames that the anomaly had sent him.

But he stood composed. Even though that coat was expensive, he at least had an idea of the young anomaly's abilities.

"This chakra that you keep talking about, could it be that it is the mixture of physical and mental energy?" He asked, honestly curious about it.

"Chakra is made up of two parts, the body's own physical energy, stored in numerous cells and mental energy, where focus and concentration is a given. In a way, it's your definition of ki and magic. But to us, chakra is simply chakra." Konohamaru answered and Wilhelm smiled.

"So then, these Bijuu that you so truthfully put it, are living masses of Kankaho?" He asked once more.

Konohamaru's eyes widened, was there an energy source that is similar to chakra in every way here? He had a sudden feeling of dread, as if he had just said a very important thing to the man.

"By your reaction, I would take that as a yes. So that means the number of these beasts is only limited, not reaching to a hundred at most and even then it's a stretch." The man said this to himself as he dodged a blow coming from both Negi and Kotaro.

"Ah yes, so limited in fact, that the off chance of seeing one in action is rare, let alone seeing two. But no matter, the size wouldn't be a problem. I can just scour around and look for gigantic animals with multiple tails." The man said as the fires were extinguished with the rain and smoke wafted from all around him, he got into a fighting stance as the three boys got into theirs.

To this, Konohamaru's frown turned to a scowl as he looked over at the man, he was smart, too smart for his own good, "I've given you enough info that warrants you as a threat. A mistake on my part, sure, but not that I'm not willing to correct it."

Konohamaru then clasped his hands once more and going for a series of seals as flames now erupted around his hands.

"It goes without saying that I'm going to have to kill right now." Konohamaru said this with a serious face.

How easy it was for him to say that? The fact that he felt how senseless and pointless war was and how easily life vanishes like that, it was sickening. They were so used to it that death has made them numb. It was sad seeing comrades die during those days, but when he was participating in war, he didn't have the time to cry, he remembered burying countless comrades in unmarked graves, and he remembered Udon's death like a shadow that always tailed him. It haunted him, plagued him so much that he wanted to forget everything about it. He blamed himself for his best friend's death and even with Naruto's words, the seemingly cracked voice and the blood curdling scream was what kept him from forgetting.

So, how could he up and say it like that?

To Konohamaru, the pain of loss was so familiar. He had witnessed his grandfather's funeral, the one he thought to be invincible, the mountain that he dared to climb. He watched as they buried his uncle, Asuma, on a gravestone that resulted from a fierce battle with those psychotic killers, the Akatsuki. He watched as Udon volunteered to steer away from their path and wound up dead just to keep the mission from failing.

Perhaps he had grown complacent about life's general meaning to anyone. To him, killing was now a necessary evil. He didn't want people dying because of his inaction, of his strength lacking. No, he wouldn't want that, if he would need to kill in order to save someone then so be it.

To him, right now, his master's life was at stake and he would be damned if the master that had taught him so much would be taken away from them. He wouldn't stand for it, wouldn't allow it, his master's teaching be damned!

"Katon: Soukoenken (Fire Release: Twin tiger blazing fist)!" Konohamaru's eyes steeled with pure resolve as he dashed towards the man that held his ground against the ninja.

Konohamaru then jumped, letting his right hand lean back and throwing a punch straight to Wilhelm's face. Wilhelm once more took a side step but not before Konohamaru swept his arm sideways intent on smacking the guy with his back hand.

Wilhelm jumped and was thoroughly surprised when Kotaro and Negi came and intercept him in mid air. Negi landed first, leaning his right foot forward and inhaled deeply before he stretched his arms back and made for a pushing motion with palms open hitting Wilhelm straight at his back and sending him hurtling away from the boy. Kotaro instantly followed up and with his agility appeared right before Wilhelm and giving the man a kick to the back of his head and sending him crashing to the stage floor face first.

"We've won." Negi mentioned and opened the demon sealing bottle, only for it to backfire as Asuna's pendant glowed. The bottle was sent flying towards the barrier and landed just in front of Nodoka and Yue; both of them were looking at each other before they looked back at the fight.

"It seems the experiment is successful." The man said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Any attacking magic doesn't work on it. This is quite the ability if I must say so." Wilhelm commented as he dusted himself off before going back to his stance.

"Now I do believe it is time I got serious."

Going to a proper stance of his own, the old man was preparing to fight when he felt a surprise attack appearing from his back when Konohamaru's punch had caused a relatively minor explosion when he punched him on the back. Struggling to look back, he saw the brunette who was wordlessly maintaining his jutsu in his right hand, palms open, the fire it gave glowed in the darkness as Konohamaru's eyes were flashing dangerously along with a tremendous cry of thunder and lightning all around.

"Didn't I say before that I have to kill you? I know it sounds heartless of me to do so, but better you than anybody else. It's even better if I leave no trace, so be thankful my affinity is in fire. I'll burn you alive so bad that not even your ash remains." Konohamaru said dangerously as Negi chastised his peer.

"K-Konohamaru-nii-san, I don't think we have to do that! We could seal him but you don't have to…"

"Negi…" Konohamaru said in monotone, his eyes were as cold as ever as he stared at the old man.

"Given the chance to have only one answer to two options, which would you pick? To stop this man and seal him thus leaving the possibility of setting him free and telling about secrets that could endanger someone, or kill this man right here before he could even do any damage? I only want one answer from those two." Konohamaru mentioned as he grabbed the man by the collar and threw him down. Without as much as a thought, Konohamaru's arms fluidly went for under his shirt to where his kunai was perfectly hidden at his back. Spinning the kunai in a reverse grip, Konohamaru raised his right hand and immediately swung it as lightning struck.

Wilhelm wasted no time in pulling himself up for a defence by grabbing Konohamaru's hand with the kunai before it was dangerously close to piercing his face right between the eyes. The man's eyes narrowed dangerously.

Negi stood catatonic as he felt the wind gently blew with its cold temperature. He had never seen anyone this cold before, Konohamaru's eyes had resolve in them, but not like when he fought before. This Konohamaru was different; he was dark, cold and ruthless.

As Wilhelm and Konohamaru struggled against their opposing strength, the ninja said something with gritted teeth.

"I'm not like Naruto-nii who could be so forgiving or could give out free advice like him. I'm different, Negi, I'm not like him nor will I ever be. But that's okay, because I don't care. I wouldn't give a shit about being the aspiring student to be like my master, I'm only his student. And that, for me, is enough!" Konohamaru shouted as he tried to force his kunai on the man only to be repelled by the man's strength. Konohamaru flipped away just before Wilhelm could attack.

"So you fight with pride, how interesting, yet somewhat disappointing. Do you fight with pride on yourself? Or pride for your master? Or could it be perhaps, out of duty?" Wilhelm asked, Konohamaru simply gave as scoff at this and clasped his hands together in a seal.

"I fight with all of them on my back." Konohamaru mentioned as his skin started to turn black. Black as charcoal, black as the abyss, and black as darkness itself, Konohamaru then stomped on the ground, hard, causing him to dash at Wilhelm at incredible speed.

Wilhelm jumped, Konohamaru missing the man by a small margin as he punched one of the bleachers causing to shatter and fall to the ground as with the next five rows behind it.

"How dull…" Wilhelm mentioned in a bored tone as he quickly went for Konohamaru for a punch only to block him with one arm, the ninja from another world wasn't even looking at him.

"I noticed that when your opponent's back is turned on you, you always go for the back of the neck for the weakest area. Not flashy but it gets the job done. Unfortunately, this is too predictable." Konohamaru then pulled Wilhelm by the arm and Wilhelm watched as the brunette's arm screamed bloody murder. Those eyes, those eyes were meant for someone who had lost their sanity in fighting. But this boy, he could still talk coherently even after all of that the eyes of those of a killer showed dangerously in front of him.

"Die…" Konohamaru's free hand closed to a fist and then collide it straight at Wilhelm's cheek, sending the man flying and an audible crack was heard as Konohamaru punched the man square on the jaw. Dust and debris erupted as the old man hit the wall, clouds of it covered the area as Konohamaru's jutsu ended, his eyes were still sharp however as the man erupted from the fight, it didn't even look like he had his jaw broken!

Konohamaru didn't even flinch; those sharp and cold eyes were still present and watched the man unimpressed.

"K-Konohamaru-nii-san! Please, calm down, surely we can settle this if we just subdue him!" Negi chastised, by this time, Kotaro was watching in absolute horror as to how the brown haired onii-san would not hesitate to kill. If he had been like the way he was when they first fought, the hanyou shuddered at the thought of it. He would have most likely died.

"Negi, stand aside…" Konohamaru mentioned as he didn't make eye contact with the boy, only watching the man as he tried to move.

"Kasshoku-nii, Negi-aniki is right! Calm down! We can get info on the guy as soon as we subdue him, then we can go and take care of whoever sent him here!" Chamo continued but Konohamaru, however, didn't look convinced.

"Negi, if you can't come at this guy with the intent to kill, then I suggest to step aside." Konohamaru said this, itching to finish the job.

"But it's unnecessary! I'm sure we can find a different way to…" Negi tried to

"I'm a soldier, Negi. I fight to protect the ideals and safety of my comrades, my friends, and my country. I'll kill one to save a thousand, I'll kill ten to save a million, now stand aside, Negi, what I'm doing is the job of a soldier and not a teacher." Konohamaru said this with utter conviction as Wilhelm began to talk, this time, insulting Konohamaru's motivation.

"You fight out of duty? Hmph, just like a mindless drone… You people who fight for the ideals of an organization that doesn't guarantee safety and likely to be a corrupt system are nothing more than blind fools. Soldiers who fight die simply. It's a matter of fact. Fighting to protect? Nations waged war on other nations simply because their interests are threatened or they want something. The same could be said for fighting. We fight because we can attain our own goals with it. It's a means to an end, a personal one at that. Fighting to protect and fighting out of duty? What insensible rubbish."

Konohamaru was about to act again when he heard one voice coming from behind him, "You've only managed to paralyze one of us! If you want that barrier to be gone, you're going to have to knock us all out!"

It was then that the three slime girls had appeared just behind the trio. Konohamaru's eyes, sharp as they are, simply looked back and said at the girls and told them a familiar line that Wilhelm said to him before knocking him out.

"Troublesome pests."

His arms glowed in flames as he mercilessly punched them without remorse, without second guessing. The trio screamed in agony as part of them were instantly vaporized. As thunder boomed and lightning crackled, they watched as the boy of fourteen was standing before them, whose eyes seemingly glowed in the dark as he looked down on them condescendingly while they watched him in fear. In his hand, he was holding Suramui's neck while it was dark in colour.

The two sisters watched in dread as Konohamaru, with his chakra, set his hand ablaze that was holding Suramui's neck and crushing it like a bug. They watched in utter horror as Suramui didn't struggle but disintegrated to vapour in his hands. There was no blood, only the horrified scream of their sister being vaporized in an instant.

"M-M-Monster!" Ameko shouted amidst her fear while Konohamaru scoffed at it.

"That's the pot calling the kettle black. I told you, I'm not picky enough that I wouldn't want my hands dirtied. I'm a soldier, and as such, I'm ready to kill given the chance and to me, you knowing about the bijuu are a threat to this world. Perhaps if you hadn't known about it in the first place, I could have let you all be sealed in that bottle with no problem. But since you're so close about learning everything bout it, I don't have a choice but to kill you. Don't worry, it's nothing personal, I just don't like giving the benefit of the doubt."

But before he could act, a hand seemingly touched his telling him to stop.

"That's enough, Konohamaru-sensei." Konoka said in her gentle voice as the brunette looked at her surprised. The girls were so shaken up by Suramui's apparent demise that they lost their concentration in maintaining the three prisons. Now, the girls were free, they went after the necklace that Konoka instantly knew as the reason behind Wilhelm's ability to cancel Negi's spells, with the slime girls shaken up, there was no way to oppose them as they went for their tasks that everyone were sent to.

"I think it's time you wash your hands, you've done enough and you've sacrificed enough." She said, her voice, soothing and Konohamaru stopped, just before Nodoka and Yue had opened the demon sealing bottle to seal the remaining slime sisters in it. His eyes softened and looked on the ground, feeling no mortification or anger in his person. Perhaps it was the work of Konoka's magic. She had a calming effect on everyone. Whereas Naruto had this rousing effect that was meant to inspire, Konoka had something that boosted everyone's spirits differently.

It was then that he noticed that Negi and Kotaro were now facing to what he could only describe as a real monster.

Shiny, dark red and shell like skin in appearance, like how an egg was supposed to look like. White holes replaced his eye sockets and his teeth, although not jagged, looked like the edges of two sprockets. Something he found quite menacing as did the curved horns that were situated at the top of his head.

Konohamaru watched as Negi, shaken up from the event, suddenly grew quiet and everything around them felt colder.

"It seems that you remember me, I'm glad." Wilhelm said and Negi, in his silent rage, charged forth like an angry tiger, only this time, no roar was heard.

* * *

With Naruto and company:

The Ichibi no Shukaku rose from its fallen position, its body now reformed once more when a girl with light blue hair appeared before it, Shukaku, curious as to what the girl was, tilted its head to the side and leaned closer to the girl, its golden beady eyes squinted to the girl before smacking her with its gigantic arm, only for the girl to remain unharmed.

Bewilderment struck the unreasonable beast. It had managed to hit her dead on with its arm! The girl should have been spurting out blood!

It then tried to use its sand and surrounded her before crushing it with a grip. Surprisingly, all it could feel was sand, no wet and sticky feeling of blood were gracing its hands.

"**KAH! WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU, YOU STUPID HUMAN?"** It shouted in frustration, to which the ghost girl shouted to the demon, "How rude!"

Another hail of sand bombarded her and try as it might, everything just seemed to phase through her.

"**JUST STAND THERE AND DIE ALREADY!" **The Shukaku yelled in frustration before it concentrated all of its attention on Sayo. It was then that Kaede struck.

She knew this jutsu was still in its imperfect stages, the timing in using it was terribly still out of her touch. But binding this monster was the only thing that they needed right now, and to that, she at least mastered in binding the opponent with the technique.

"Kaede Ninpo: Bakusa Bakuenjin (Kaede's Ninja Art: Binding Chain Eruption)!"

Countless shuriken were suddenly released and began binding the Shukaku with its entire body with the help of countless steel wires. To each end, stood a Naruto clone, once more in Sage mode holding the lines and pulling as Shukaku struggled with its ungodly strength.

"Keep pulling guys! Bind him down! Make sure his tail doesn't meet his face!" One of the clones was shouting as they pulled the steel wires down while Shukaku roared in struggle. Far from the other side, Naruto, Evangeline and Chachamaru stood as Naruto began forming seals with his hands and slamming it on the ground.

"I only know one sealing technique to put this guy into place. Even though it's my first time sealing something like the Shukaku, I just hope this works fast." It was then that Naruto gave a shout with the name of the technique.

"Hakke no Fuuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)!" A small pillar then rose from the ground; at the top were eight small columns and a red, velvet like cloth. Naruto then placed the kettle on top of it and his right hand weaved with chakra as a seal was slowly emerging from his hand.

"Fuuin (Seal)!" He shouted and dashed at Shukaku at unbelievable speeds and slamming his hand into the side of its right arm. Surprised by this, tendrils of chakra literally exploded outward and began to grab Shukaku by the arm.

"**WHAT THE-? A SEAL? NOOOO! I'M NOT GOING BACK INTO A CONTAINER! NOOOOOOOOOO! JUST WHEN I HAD MY FREEDOM… JUST WHEN I WAS RELISHING IN IT!"**

The Shukaku shouted as its whole body was now sucked into the small kettle before Chachamaru closed it quickly.

"Well that was anti-climactic." Evangeline said as countless fuuda began appearing around the kettle.

"**Let me out, damn it! It's so cramped in here and… What's that smell? Is that earl grey? Wow, its… its kind of nice actually. WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING?" **The voice yelled out loud as it somehow came from the kettle.

"Wow, I never expected that to happen." Naruto said as he looked at the kettle. Apparently, he was new to the phenomenon as well.

Just then, he felt something that was impeding their seal earlier disappear just like that and the quintet was immediately pulled into it. A bright light all escaped them as the world inside the seal crumbled like dust.

The anchor seal that Naruto had created then collapsed and shattered with the deed finally done.

Eva's cottage:

A huge plume of smoke wafted around the house as the people all appeared clumsily from the resulting pull of Naruto's seal.

"**Well, shit, I'm back in a crappy kettle. Damn you, Kyuubi vessel, damn you to hell!"** If Shukaku could show its fist right now it would be shaking.

"That is one experience I never want to happen again, I think it's fair that I've had my share kaiju movies, and now I think I know why I prefer them in movies." Sayo said this as she plopped down on the floor.

"C-Can't breatheeeee~!" Naruto mentioned this as he was stuck in the bottom pile.

Chachamaru recovered first and helped her master up. When Kaede was about to stand, she found that she had been straddling Naruto's face.

"Ohohoho, Naruto-sensei, you can be so Ecchi at times." Kaede teased as she stepped up while she helped Naruto up. The blonde giving a sigh as he finally looked at their newly captured monster in the kettle.

"Okay, spill it, how did you end up here?"

"**Go suck a dick, Kyuubi vessel! I ain't telling shit, you got that? The bijuu happened to materialize here because it was your entire fault! You destroyed the Gedo Mazo!"**

Well that was easy.

* * *

With Negi and Company:

With Negi going on a magical berserk as Chamo put it, Konohamaru had to put a stop to this now. He knew what to do.

"I'm sorry, Konoka, but I'm going to dirty my hands one more time."

With that, Konohamaru vanished in a plume of smoke as the said brunette jumped along with Kotaro, as the demon was about to fire its petrifying magic at the boy.

Both of them saved Negi in time before the beam hit and the three of them crashed on the ground.

Konohamaru had to hold his mouth for a few seconds, Negi had slugged him one on the cheek and his mouth was slightly bleeding from it. Probably a result of the walls of his mouth brought to trauma with his teeth.

Kotaro wasn't faring any better as the boy had his head bleeding, most likely due to the staff.

When Negi came to, it felt like his memory of the battle was erased. He looked to his side and found Kotaro and Konohamaru sitting down on the ground, both of them had blood dripping from some part of their face.

"Eh, Kotaro-kun, Konohamaru-nii-san, what happened?"

Both of them looked at the red head for a few moments and then looked at each other and nodded.

They both smacked Negi in the face.

"That was for rushing in blindly like that, you moron! Whoever told you running in a straight line on a fight is a complete dumbass! You had a lot of openings there for a moment, don't think you could win in a fight against me with an attitude like that!" Kotaro shouted as Konohamaru only looked at the demon that was staring down at them.

"Negi."

"Yes, Konohamaru-nii-san?"

"Remember when I told you about being a soldier and protecting your comrades and your friends?"

Negi nodded as Konohamaru apologized, "I'm sorry, but I'll be taking your vengeance for this one, if only to stop him from endangering someone's life."

With that, Konohamaru performed the Shadow clone technique and a clone popped up next to him, the clone started pouring chakra onto its palms and then poured it to Konohamaru's right palm that was rotating and compressing it into a shell.

As the technique was about to finish, Kotaro watched in awe when the full power of the Rasengan reached its peak and saw that the technique was like containing a storm in the palm of one's hand.

He needed to learn that!

Negi looked confused, who was Konohamaru referring to when he said he's stopping Wilhelm from endangering someone's life? There was something Konohamaru was hiding but he didn't know what.

"Who are you trying to protect, Konohamaru-nii-san?"

Konohamaru looked at the red head and gave a melancholic smile before he looked back at Wilhelm.

"Everybody."

With that, Konohamaru dashed forward, running up the steps as Wilhelm fired his Petrification spell. Konohamaru just weaved his way around, going in random the directions as he slowly made his way to the top.

"Once more… Ras tel ma scir magister! Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem In Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! (A stream of light, cut through the night, spring forth from my hand and throttle mine enemy!)"

"Inugami Ryuu Kuu Ga! (Dog god style vacuum fang)"

Kotaro let out a chi attack when he swung his clawed left hand, the attack went straight to Wilhelm as the intense air pressure forced multiple cuts around his body.

"Fulguratio Albicans! (White Lightning!)"

Negi's hand crackled in white light as it forced its way towards the demon in a flash. The winged demon fell down as the muscles in his wings tightened to a point he couldn't feel them. As he was about to descend, Konohamaru leapt from the stands with his right hand outstretched.

"Rasengan! (Spiralling Sphere)" Konohamaru slammed the energy orb straight at the back of Wilhelm's head. The force of the jutsu began to grind away at Wilhelm as his brain was suddenly shredded to several pieces before being sent flying, spinning and crashing to the ground.

When Konohamaru landed he looked down on the body of his enemy, unmoving, no breath, a husk of a corpse he couldn't even try to sympathize with.

"To insult my way of the ninja is to insult my pride, my beliefs and my principles. I'm glad that you were a full demon, because then I would have regretted killing you if you were at least half a human."

With that, the brunette left the demon's corpse after he set it on fire with a simple Katon Jutsu.

Negi wanted to speak more but Konohamaru interrupted him, never once meeting Negi eye to eye.

"Negi, it takes a hero to save the world, it takes a warrior to kill for his loved ones, but it only takes a man to become either one of them. What you saw tonight, is exactly what I am. I'm a warrior, a soldier. I'm no hero. I fought in a war, lived in it, walked through hell and back from it. I saw friends die, comrades that gave their lives for the sake of winning the war. Negi, I want you to ask you question. If I was your enemy and I obtained important information concerning the safety of your friend being endangered, what would you do?"

"I would… I would stop you."

"Then what?"

"I… I don't know."

"Now do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"But I don't get it, who is it that you're to protect? If it were someone you truly know, then shouldn't that person be safe back at your world?"

Konohamaru stopped this for a moment he hadn't thought of it that through yet, but somehow, he found it completely sound coming from the child teacher. So he could only come up with the best answer that he could.

"It's complicated, Negi. Things aren't as simple as you think they are."

"It's that blonde haired nii-san, isn't it?" Kotaro was the one who asked this time as Konohamaru stopped at this.

"I can't answer question. I don't have the authority to do so." Konohamaru said this and with that, he left. The rain pelting his skin as he walked back to their house, he looked up as night encompassed the skies of Mahora this time.

No doubt he and Naruto would have a lot of talking to do for tonight, sleep was out of the question.

To be continued…

* * *

And here's chapter sixteen! Again, I'm enjoying writing a chapter for Unwanted Travelling, it seems that I've finally found something for Naruto and Konohamaru to interact with the Negima cast on more than just the main plot of Negima. Just as a reminder, the element I'm using from the Naruto manga is mainly about the tailed beasts and partly, the jinchuuriki. I've already considered two people to be in from Naruto aside from Konohamaru and the titular character himself, and as I thought about it, it seems rather enjoyable to think of that possibility. But sorry, no Akatsuki, no Minato, no Jiraiya, or any female Naruto cast, heck, I'm not even putting Kakashi and Sasuke in it. I've made my final decision about it and I'm not going to think about it twice. Besides, I've thought about a rather hilarious scene coming up with Naruto during the Festival arc, what it is, you will have to wait. All I have to say is that it involves singing and a rather ridiculous participation coming from one of the girls. LOL, just thinking about it is making me laugh.

Anyway, reviews would be nice, please.


	17. Reasoning

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Seventeen: Reasoning

* * *

Negi wasn't sure what to feel right now, just a few minutes ago, he had witnessed Konohamaru's brutality in the fight, he could still hear those horrified screams that came from the slime girls. This was the type of battle that he was most scared off. A battle with lives placed on the line.

He didn't know what to feel anymore but somehow, he grew SCARED of Konohamaru, of how he was capable of doing those things without remorse, of how easy it was for him to take a life just like that.

'_I'm a soldier, Negi. I fight to protect the ideals and safety of my comrades, my friends, and my country. I'll kill one to save a thousand. I'll kill ten to save a million.'_

Negi closed his eyes, trying to forget such an irreversible truth about Konohamaru's statements. How could he be so callous about it? That was a life! No one has the right to judge when someone lives or dies!

But like him, Konohamaru was just trying to protect someone. He was defending that person's life; he was preventing a catastrophe to happen. So if the cost of one million lives would be the death of one, it was obvious that a million terribly outweighs the life of one person!

The red head shook his head; he didn't know what to believe anymore.

"I-I can't believe Konohamaru-sensei was willing to do those things." Nodoka was the first to say out of the girls.

"From the viewpoint of a bodyguard, I can understand why he was willing to do it. He chose to do it out of the compromised safety of his charge. That's why I don't think any less of him." Setsuna said this as she looked down to the ground with a frown and said, "If by chance I was Konohamaru-sensei and my charge was Oujo-sama, then I wouldn't have hesitated as well."

"Set-chan…" Konoka interrupted and the girls looked at the heiress of the Konoemon family.

"Protect me with all that you have, but never lay down your life for me, don't destroy yours just like that. Despite Konohamaru-sensei's actions, I wouldn't hold it against him, but killing for my sake is wrong."

"Even so, it was the most logical action. If Konohamaru-sensei didn't, then it would have given catastrophic results." Yue had mentioned.

"What makes you say that, Yue-chi?" Asakura asked this at the booklover.

"That's because to any general, information is weighed more than gold. To have the enemy knowing such information concerning Konohamaru-sensei's mistake would have been disastrous on our part. If they learned just what these beasts are, they could devise a way for them to approach these 'bijuu' with some form of tactic. To Konohamaru-sensei, the information he had inadvertently given would be considered as the most vital. Sun Tzu, the one who actually invented the ways of warfare by using his wits, emphasizes the vitality of information in his book in the 'Art of War' and to quote, 'Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.' From a standpoint of a military leader, what Konohamaru-sensei did was the right call to prevent the information from leaking. Make of that of what you think, but from a pragmatic standpoint, his actions are with the most merit."

As they continued their walk back at the dorms, the short girl continued, "Besides, I highly suspect that these quasi-living animals are something more than just entities made up of indefinite amounts of unknown energy."

Asuna scratched her head at this as she tried to comprehend what Yue just said; Asakura kindly explained to her, "It just means there's something more to those bijuu things than meets the eye."

Asakura had to roll her eyes at this and then looked back at Yue. She was a baka ranger, why exactly?

"Regardless, we best not deal with Konohamaru-sensei over this matter. Let Naruto-sensei see through this. It's not like they have the same set of morals and beliefs like we do. For all we know, they would consider suicide as a better alternative than giving away information." Continued the blue haired girl and many of them seemed unsure of this.

Asuna however, was silent through the whole ordeal; she didn't know what to make of the situation that just happened. So maybe what Konohamaru said was true, but she thought it was wrong. It was wrong to expose Negi and Kotaro to such levels of violence. They were children for goodness sakes! She may not know a lot of things but even she knew that there were limits on what to show and not to show on children.

"I'm going to talk to Naruto." Asuna said as she turned tail and ran towards Naruto and Konohamaru's apartment. Negi soon followed.

"Ah! Asuna-san, wait! Perhaps it isn't a good time to go there right now!" Negi shouted.

Asakura and the rest watched as Negi followed the orange haired girl.

"I hope nothing happens when they meet those two." Asakura mentioned as she looked around, "By the way, where's the dog kid and Chizu-nee?"

"They must have already gone first, aru." Kuu Fei mentioned while the rest of the girls went back to the dorms, apparently the cold was getting to them what with being naked and all.

* * *

With Naruto and Konohamaru:

Naruto wordlessly looked over his apprentice with a frown as he stood before him. Wet hair present and those fishbowl eyes were showing. The blonde was by no means a total idiot; he could see that something was up.

"You've got a minute to explain yourself why you're wet and only in your boxers, Konohamaru." Naruto said as he eyed the boy intently.

And Konohamaru explained fully, in perfect detail, about what happened, about Asuna, about the discovery of the bijuu, about his mistake, about Negi and Kotaro and finally, about his actions. When the explanation was done, Naruto was now scowling as he sat down, glaring at his apprentice with something akin to disagreeing with his methods.

"Konohamaru…" He said, stern as a hard wooden floor.

"Remember when you told me back then that you wanted to become a sage?" Naruto asked as he stood up in front of the brunette with his fists clenched. Konohamaru waited as he was waiting for what was to come.

"This is the time I explain to you exactly WHY I didn't want you to become one."

In a flash, Naruto punched Konohamaru in the face, effectively sending him outside from the door, the brunette sliding on the cold muddy soil as the rain kept pelting down on him. Now sporting a bruise, Konohamaru looked down from his position and saw Naruto walking towards him, perhaps in silent fury as to what Negi had earlier.

"What the hell?" A familiar voice asked, he looked to his side, and saw Asuna standing beside him with Negi towed along.

"You've got some nerve asking me to teach you being a sage when you do this behind my back, stupid apprentice."

Asuna stood up and faced the blonde, "What is wrong with you, blondie? Why did you punch him like that?"

Naruto looked at Asuna who was wearing the risqué lingerie she had been wearing since facing the old gentleman. The blonde resisted the urge to ask out of curiosity if Asuna was working at a strip club now.

"It's hard to answer you seriously when you're dressed like that, Asuna, but since you asked, I punched him in the face because of how stupid he was back at the college students' stage."

Asuna blushed at this and looked down, forgetting the fact that she was wearing such funky set of underwear. She shook her head at this; things are clearly messed up right now!

"But he did it to protect someone! Shouldn't that count more as a scolding for now?" Asuna asked and Naruto glared at the girl.

"I don't need the protection, especially not from someone who's willing to go behind the teachings of MY master, damn it!" Naruto exclaimed and Konohamaru struggled to get up.

"I'm sorry it had to be that way, Naruto-nii… But I had to do it, if word got out, then they'd know what the true purpose of the bijuu are." Konohamaru reasoned. Naruto shook his head.

"But you caused needless deaths in the process, you moron! You killed someone in front of a family member, in front of children, for fuck's sake! You think I would let this slide just because you did it out of good will? You better damn well tell me a good reason Konohamaru, I fought long and hard for a time when peace was finally at our grasp, I fought that hatred differently from what I was expected to from my country and now you're following the same cycle of hate that I've been taught to rid off by my master who was the previous Sage? You think the title of being a sage is about strength alone? Then you've already lost that criterion to the toads! Don't ever think you'll learn Senjutsu from them because of this!"

Naruto now stood before the brunette and grabbed a tussle of hair. The brunette winced agony as he said, "Get up. Every damn time we do this, you always seem to be unable to grasp to some of the things I'm not granting you."

"N-Naruto-nii-san, that's enough!"

"Stay out of this, Negi!" Konohamaru shouted amidst the pain, the brunette forced himself up as he said to the red head, "It was my decision! Don't get any funny ideas by interrupting!"

"Good, because I'm going to give you a beat down you'd likely deserve!"

Naruto felt angry, not because of what Konohamaru did, but because of what his action had inadvertently affected to what he was trying to teach the brunette. All of a sudden, the memories of his master reminded him of how much he wished to attain peace.

It was a dream he wanted realized and more than anything, proved to the world that he wasn't a failure. He wasn't someone who walked through life with nothing but terrible misgivings from fate.

Naruto had a kindred spirit with the old pervert and he knew just how much being the teacher of the prophesized one meant to him. To him, being a sage was the honour that Jiraiya left for him and for many others, a key to a dream he wanted realized.

As Naruto kept punching Konohamaru, Asuna watched in horror while Negi pleaded for them to stop.

"My sensei, struggled in his life to find something he's worth in! He tried to remove every failure he had by having the hope that someday, everything would change through teaching the promised child! What he did, what he hoped for, you think I'm just going to let it all crumble away just because MY own apprentice just did something that went away with his teaching like that?"

Konohamaru winced and groaned in pain, every punch was agonizing, mind numbing, terribly brutal. When he fell to the ground, he looked over at the blonde who was staring down at him with a scowl.

"I-I'm sorry that I had to do it, Naruto-nii." He said, his voice was shaking, but he just gave that knowing smile. Naruto knew it as well and turned his back on the brunette, that beating was enough.

"Get back inside, wash your face and take a bath. I won't be training you for a week after this. Be glad that you're still my apprentice despite the stunt you pulled." Naruto said as he turned back from the scene, obviously having enough of the whole thing.

"He didn't have to be brutal like that." Asuna said as Konohamaru shrugged it off, holding his side as he walked back inside very slowly.

"It's just the way Naruto-nii is. He can be mad at first, but he's forgiving. He's always giving chances." Konohamaru said this as he got up, his body aching from the beating he had just now.

"I-I don't understand… Why did he have to punch you like that?" Negi asked this while he looked towards the door.

"It's because we're guys." He informed with that wry smile, walking back into the house. When the door was within arm's reach, Konohamaru turned to Negi and Asuna as he said, "It's just the way how we make things clear, through fists."

"I don't get why you guys have to do it." Asuna said this with a sigh, to her it was completely unnecessary.

Konohamaru shrugged at this as he went inside, "It's just the way we are."

Negi was confused at this as Konohamaru gave a smile.

"Don't worry, Negi. You'll get it someday."

And with that, the door drew to a close with a long creak.

* * *

The next day:

By the time PE had happened, many of the girls noticed Konohamaru sporting a bruise on his left cheek and his right eyebrow was swollen. Many of them asked if he got caught in a fight yesterday but denied it saying that he was careless and fell down the stairs.

"I don't think you could sport a bruise like that when you fell down, Konohamaru-sensei." Ako mentioned as she grabbed a cotton ball with an iodine solution and rubbed it on Konohamaru's cheek. The brown liquid was a good antiseptic even if it could cause some pain in injured areas.

Konohamaru winced. Even though it was roughly twelve hours after his beating, the pain still lingered on his face. He was quiet the whole time though, as the nurse on duty, Izumi Ako, was diligently cleansing the areas that had a lot of bruises and some cuts.

Konoka was nowhere to be found after class so he couldn't really ask for a favour from her but it wasn't really that much of a problem. Perhaps she was still shaken up from what he did and who wouldn't?

Just from the fact that he mercilessly killed someone without as much as remorse or second guessing was sure to drive someone who witnessed it first time in a state of shock. It wouldn't surprise him if Negi and some of the girls grew scared of him now.

"Is something on your mind Konohamaru-sensei?" Ako asked, as she finished cleaning up some of Konohamaru's injuries and wrapping them with rolls of bandages. His cheek had a piece of sterile gauze now as Konohamaru looked surprised.

"I can tell if something is troubling you, Konohamaru-sensei, your body language speaks for itself."

"What was I doing?" Konohamaru asked and Ako gave a knowing smile.

"Well, you were staring on the floor for quite a while now and you were really quiet when you got here, but the fact that you were a bit unresponsive to some pain stimuli that I made by applying some antiseptics on the cuts was what sealed the deal. So is something bothering you, sensei?"

Konohamaru was silent for a moment and finally spoke, "No… Just thinking of how a horrible person I could be."

Ako looked confused at this as Konohamaru looked by the window that afternoon, it was already nearing sundown, and the sky blazing in yellow and orange was what reminded him of his time with his grandfather.

"What made you say that, Konohamaru-sensei?" Ako asked this as she knew self deprecating statements weren't exactly considered as signs of good mental health.

The brunette merely gave a melancholic smile as he looked outside, "Somehow, everything that I do, out of good faith, I always fail or wind up more as a bad guy. I always, always think what would keep them safe, what would let them breathe a sigh of relief after everything is over and yet… Here I am, I never expected to get a thank you from what I do, and I know that I would likely push them away for things that I would do. But I just really want to protect them… Am I a bad person thinking that I have a full intention of keeping them safe?"

Ako nodded her head and said to Konohamaru, "What do you think about it then, Konohamaru-sensei?"

"That everything about it sucks. That what I did after was horrible now that I thought about it." Konohamaru said this as he somehow got to thinking last night. Not that he was haunted by his actions to kill, but by the reactions that surrounded him.

"What was it that made you think that way then?" She asked. Konohamaru simply looked at his side and looked fairly unsure.

"I… Can't really disclose it to you, Ako, it's really not in my place to say it." Konohamaru said this, hoping to avoid the subject.

Ako gave a cute pout at this, "Really, Konohamaru-sensei, and here I was trying to be therapeutic and you just had to keep it a secret, it would only help if you let it out."

The brunette simply chuckled nervously at this, "W-Well, it's not like I wouldn't, it's just that I can't. If I did, the village leader would have my head, figuratively AND literally."

Seeing Naruto being on the receiving end of Tsunade's punches were enough. The brunette shuddered at the thought.

Ako merely gave a sigh at this as she finished up Konohamaru's bandages around his body. "Whatever your problem is, Konohamaru-sensei, you're always free to talk to me about it. I have an oath of confidentiality after all… Well, more of a watered down version of it, but if it helps, feel free to talk. As for your problem, since I don't know what it is, I can only say that all people do things with good intentions in mind. You're no different Konohamaru-sensei, you put the happiness of your loved ones first before yourself. I think that's rather admirable."

To this, Konohamaru scratched the back of his head and ultimately felt embarrassed; the blush on his cheeks didn't help. Ako somewhat had a small blush of her own, fully admitting that in the end.

"So in the end, the destination doesn't matter but rather the journey, huh? Kind of a letdown for someone like myself…" Konohamaru mused as he got up and walked away from the clinic, before his rand reached for the door, he looked back at Ako and gave a big grin that he could muster.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Ako. I'm sorry I had to disturb your managerial activities like that."

With that, Konohamaru left a furiously blushing Ako who could only nod her head, completely dumbfounded.

* * *

With Naruto:

With Naruto now out of Fuuda to write his seals with, he had no choice but to buy more fuuda to write on from some shrine that Eva pointed.

He was still scowling.

He was still upset about what happened last night, about what Konohamaru said but mostly what his apprentice had done. From his standpoint, he couldn't comprehend about what Konohamaru had inadvertently done to make him wary of the brunette. Yes, Konohamaru had good intentions in mind; he had very well tried to go for a selfless act in order to stop some idiots that think they can harness the power of these malevolent beasts. But what the brunette didn't know was that Konohamaru had put himself one step closer to one of his most powerful adversaries, Pain or to be more precise, Nagato.

His features darkened at this. Pain had the same intentions in mind when he first started out. He had this extreme dedication to his friends that was admirable. But for the life of him, he still couldn't forgive the distant relative that he had. Sure, he had sworn to himself not to kill the man, but to abide to his master's teachings was different from seeking his form of justice.

And though what Konohamaru did was far different, he couldn't shake the feeling that the brunette was willing to destroy his own humanity just to keep the people that he loves out of harm's way. He knew that Konohamaru lost his friend Udon in the war; he knew how his apprentice felt his world crumble at the death of his grandfather, the man Konohamaru considered his idol, his goal to overcome. Asuma had a far less impact on Konohamaru being the estranged son of the Third Hokage, but nonetheless, he was affected by it.

Thus, he had to stop thinking about the subject. Even though Pain revived everyone in the village after he slaughtered every Konoha ninja and civilian alike, in his heart, he found it severely difficult to forgive the man. Even now, he still had to come to terms with the man that was his fellow student. The fact that Pain killed his godfather was a truth that had been set in stone; no amount of virtues can erase that. He wanted to kill Pain so badly that his knuckles always hurt just thinking about it, his palms bled and a small stream of blood always manages to fall on the ground. But he stopped himself, all because he wanted to live by his master's words, by his dream and in his memory. The more difficult choice, sure, but one cannot move forward if they can't remove their hatred.

"No… I'm not like him. I would never be like him. Stop thinking about this, I can't necessarily forgive him for what he did but I can't exactly hate him because that would go against what Ero-sennin wanted me to do." Naruto repeated those words as he walked away, stopping by the college theatre to observe the damages done by last night.

As the maintenance team try to fix some of devastation caused by the fight last night, Naruto surveyed the area and noticed the damages that were done. He could imagine the battle taking place and some of the things his apprentice had told him.

"Quite a ruckus last night was, yes?"

The voice of the headmaster interrupted him and the blonde turned back at the old man.

"Ah, old man, you were surveying the damages too?" Naruto asked and the old man nodded his head.

"I must say, the detecting barriers aren't as efficient as they should be if those high ranking demons were anything to go about. I'm surprised that Evangeline wasn't there to oversee the trouble." The old man stroked his beard at this.

"It wasn't exactly her fault for that one. We were trapped in a closed space within a seal not only that, some of the things that were left questioned on my past is beginning to catch up." The blonde responded and put his hands in his pocket.

"Yes, well, I need to know what I'm dealing with here, because just last night, for two whole minutes, I felt Evangeline's seal depowered. I went to check binding seal and it was intact. Perhaps you could explain it to me?"

The blonde shrugged at this.

"I had no choice, it was that or every single one of us would be killed. I had a temporary seal placed on her so she could provide us with the necessary firepower. It turns out her magic gave me enough time to set up a sealing technique while the others held it down or kept it busy."

"Kept what busy?" The old man questioned Naruto. The blonde inwardly cursed for this slip up.

"I know I should be wary of disclosing this information on you, old man. Seeing as you were the one that accidentally spilled the beans to Eva-chan that I was a seals master. But I guess it wouldn't hurt, Negi and the others don't need to hear any of this. They have no need for this information along with the staff that is aware of magic. This is a problem that I most likely have to deal with alone seeing as I accidentally caused it. But please try to keep it a secret next time."

Konoemon nodded at this and Naruto began talking.

The old man would want a chair to sit on and think coherently after everything was over. Naruto on the other hand, while he told the story, felt like he had forgotten something.

* * *

Eva's cottage:

"**Hey, hey you! The midget with the butcher knife! Set me free right now and you'll become my subordinate!"**

The tea kettle shouted as it jumped up and down from the cupboard and kept yelling obscenities overnight. Naruto apparently forgot to mention to Eva that the Shukaku had a debilitating and annoying syndrome.

Insomnia.

She had a terrible night of rest, not only was her body recovering from the magic that she used up due to her regeneration; she also had to deal with this headache that always seemed to annoy her and kept disturbing her sleep with lines like…

"**When I get out of here, I swear I will tear all of your organs apart so badly, you'd be wishing you were raped by me instead!"**

Or…

"**That stupid Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko, I'll kill him! I swear I'll curse him to hell and back after I rip his dick out and stuff it down his throat!"**

Or something like…

"**Gah! I hate being stuck in a stupid kettle again! Set me free, damn it! I want out!"**

Evangeline massaged her temples out of annoyance. If anything, she could understand the homicidal creature's blight for freedom but at least she didn't whine about so incessantly!

Though to her homicidal puppet, Chachazero, the Ichibi's threats of evisceration, decapitation or any other bloody acts of wanton violence was music to her ears, it was like a lullaby that made her dream of drifting in a sea of blood with a torn intestine and sliced head here and there.

Of course, Evangeline warned her of not setting the creature free, and she obeyed what her master said, one hundred percent!

"**Damn you, Kyuubi vessel! Damn you to hell!"**

By the time he said his threat and cursing Naruto's title for the umpteenth time, Eva finally lost it.

"SHUT UP YOU INSIPID RACOON! ONE MORE WORD OUT OF YOU AND I'LL HEAT UP YOUR VESSEL WITH MY STOVE!"

"**I'm a tanuki goddamnit, there's a major difference there you worthless sack of flesh!"**

And thus began a series of threats and insults coming from one side to the other. Chachazero just looked at the kettle and then back at her master and watched in glee as the two began screaming at each other.

Evangeline finally had enough and grabbed the kettle by the handle and true to her first threat, she commanded Chachamaru to open the stove and set the kettle down on the fire.

The Shukaku was screaming with agony while Evangeline gave that wicked smile.

* * *

With Naruto:

Seeing the dean wobble his way back to his office was kind of funny for him. Well, the fact that the bijuu were apocalyptic beasts of mass destruction could do that to anyone.

Once he had made his way to the shrine, he looked at the quaint little temple that was cleaned by a familiar face. The blonde squint his eyes slightly and noticed that it was Tatsumiya Mana from class 3A.

"Yo, Mana-chan." Naruto gave a casual wave to the girl who simply nodded at him. With a simple wave, Naruto returned her gesture and looked around.

"Eh, never thought you were a shrine priestess, Mana-chan." The blonde said as he looked around. Not one to mince words, Mana raised an eyebrow at the blonde and asked him, "What are you doing here, Naruto-sensei? I didn't think you were someone who would approach shrines."

Naruto scratched the back of his head at this and gave a sheepish grin, "Well, I just wanted to buy some fuuda paper for me to write on, I've run out and I need more."

Mana narrowed her eyes at this, "And what exactly do you need charm for, Naruto-sensei? Are you an exorcist, perhaps?"

"Well, no but I am a seals master. I can do anything with sealing as long as I have a pen and paper. Well, more on fuuda since it's practically the most ideal to place a seal in."

Mana nodded her head and went inside the shrine once she placed the broom by a wooden column.

Mana quickly came back and handed Naruto a ream full of fuuda seals in her hand. The blonde grinned at this and was about to grab his wallet when Mana interrupted, "That will be seven thousand yen."

Naruto gawked at it, "WHAT? For a bunch of unwritten Fuuda seals? Isn't that a bit too much, Mana-chan?"

"I know for a fact that Mahora teachers are paid well above the standard payment for teachers. That and the request you gave me is highly unusual. Better fork up sensei, most shrines won't give you empty Fuuda for no reasons at all." Mana said expectantly and Naruto pouted as he grabbed his wallet and forked over the money to Mana's expectant right hand with a small grumble.

Mana simply gave a small smile as Naruto began counting the handful of Fuuda as he got back. It was really fortunate that he had more than a hundred pieces of it or the blonde would have had a fit at this.

With a sigh, the blonde headed back to Eva's cottage to collect the kettle with the Shukaku sealed inside.

Once he managed to reach the small but quaint little cottage, he ducked when he saw a flying pot that almost hit him square in the face. The blonde looked up and found a terribly irate looking Evangeline scowling at him while holding the kettle in her hands.

"You forgot your pet, Naruto!" She said, throwing the said kettle towards the blonde and the blonde catching it by a hair's breath.

"**Damn it! I thought I'****d be free with that one!"**

"That thing kept howling curses and threats since last night, you idiot! I want that thing out!" Eva shouted and Naruto scratched the back of his head at this.

"I guess I forgot to mention about the insomnia."

"Damn right you did! That thing took my sleep from me for the whole night! Shut that thing up before I throw it to the bottom of the lake!"

"**I'd like to see you try, little Miss Bitch Fit!"**

Evangeline's figure became a bit dark as her hair somewhat raised from the malicious killing intent that she was radiating before going after the racoon.

Naruto sighed at this and grabbed a scroll from his pocket and unfurled it. The blonde placed the kettle over several lines drawn from different characters in a circular pattern with a huge space in the middle. With but a simple seal and a plume of smoke later, the kettle was gone and was inside the scroll.

Evangeline grumbled at this as she sat down, she was cranky all day as she never got any sleep because of what happened last night.

"Sorry about that, Eva-chan, I guess I should explain about some of the terms that Shukaku said last night."

The blonde sat on the opposite chair in front of Eva and grabbed another scroll, this time; it was a scroll that was purely black in colour. The blonde bit his thumb and slid it on the scroll downwards, effectively disengaging the lock system of the seal that he used back then. Eva barely noticed the written letters that were outside the scroll that read, "Documents."

When Naruto began unfurling the scroll, he began unsealing each and every document that he had in it.

"These are top secret documents that came from our missions during the fourth shinobi war; among these are files that contain the most important documents about the skills, abilities and arsenal that the enemy had. Only three people know of this collection and that includes me. So far, not even the leaders of the five great nations know this except for one person. They contain mission profiles as well as the investigations of multiple hideouts that our enemy had. We made this in hope that we can archive it for future reference and stop another madman in creating another vessel or containment unit called the Gedo Mazo (Demonic Statue of the Outer Realm)."

"Quite the reference you have there, Uzumaki, there are subtle analogies there that pertain to Buddhist teachings." Eva frowned and Naruto scratched his head.

"I don't know a lot about the religion here, but the Gedo Mazo is a containment unit for the bijuu created by a madman that wants to combine all of it and resurrect an apocalyptic world destroyer called the Juubi (Ten Tails). This containment unit houses most of the bijuu inside. It was made and cultivated by the living forces of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, to what we suspected as a neutralizing effect for the bijuu's chakra to easier control them. The exact specifics of the Gedo Mazo are unknown since many of the stuff we salvaged were inconclusive. But it's a belief that whatever material cultivated the Gedo Mazo, it would mean that it would be strong enough to permanently contain the bijuu of near limitless energy. That means enough chakra to wipe out a more than just a country off the map, maybe a continent." Naruto explained and Evangeline nodded, many of the terminologies Naruto explained were rather deep, she never had any idea that the blonde held such a deep personality even if he could be a dumb as a rock.

Naruto then showed her an artist's depiction of the statue according to his and Killer Bee's statements. Evangeline saw a humanoid statue, with multiple spikes protruding on the back, its eyes were covered with what seemed to be like a bandage and its mouth was slightly open as it looked down with its sharp chin close to its chest. It had its palms up and its fingers bending and reaching skyward, it was close to its upper torso as it was handcuffed. It sat in a lotus position over what Eva could make out as a lotus flower itself.

"This is the best that we could muster about the image. But it's accurate enough to leave a lasting impression. What I can't get over is to how did the chakra cause enough collision that it warranted a wormhole enough to drain it out and transfer it here."

Evangeline then raised her eyebrow as she spoke, "Have you even heard of the term, 'Nuclear Fusion' or something close along those lines, like say, 'Atomic collision'?"

Naruto simply scratched the back of his head in obvious embarrassment.

"No, actually, I'm not exactly the go-to guy for these things, besides, I suck at bookwork."

"And you're a seals master, how?" Evangeline asked and shook her head at this; there are simply far too many anomalies in one that is called Uzumaki Naruto.

It was then that Negi had managed to get into their conversation when he wanted to get some training done with Evangeline for the day.

"What are Naruto-nii and Master talking about?" Negi asked, the both of them were looking rather serious at this as Naruto and Evangeline looked at the boy and then back to each other.

"Well, if you want to know more of their abilities, I'll lend you some of the documents I have with me right now. Particularly to the bijuu and most of the Jinchuuriki, I have a feeling last night won't be the last of you ever seeing one of them."

"Eh? You're telling Evangeline-san the existence of the bijuu, Naruto-nii? But why?" Negi asked, looking rather incredulous at the older boy's decision.

"You've told Negi about the bijuu before I did?" Evangeline asked, not that she cared; she just wanted to know how the child got hold of such information.

"Somebody already had knowledge of it without us knowing about it. I never told Negi anything about the beasts and most likely I never will. And to answer your question, Negi, sorry, I can't let you worry over a problem that doesn't concern you, concentrate on finding your father, its better that way." Naruto added as he placed the documents on Eva's table.

"Negi, don't touch those documents alright, they're not for your eyes. Most of the things written there simply aren't meant for children." Naruto warned before ruffling the child's head and exiting the cottage.

"I take it you decided what type of mage you'll be, Negi?" Naruto asked before leaving the red head gave a nod in affirmation.

"I want to be strong enough and fight side by side with my friends." Negi mentioned this as he remembered the scenes last night so vividly. He couldn't help but assert himself to the type of fighting style he wanted. He desired to be strong enough to avoid such scenarios that Konohamaru mentioned, strong enough that killing would become unnecessary.

"I want to be a magic swordsman and fight alongside my friends; I don't want watching people's backs while I do my spells."

Naruto gave a grin at this as he turned back, but not before being stopped when Negi called out his name.

"Is it necessary to kill to protect everyone, Naruto-nii-san?" He asked Naruto. The blonde remained silent for a long while and contemplated but nonetheless, he answered for Negi, repeating the words of his father.

"Warriors will fight for when they have to Negi, everyday, we're tasked to protect the ones we love, the ones we care for, it applies to everyone. Everyday, we always fight that hatred and because of it, people cause conflict with one another. When one kills, the other will retaliate simply out of vengeance. Good and evil, will always be how one person sees it. There is no such thing as pure black or white, even I don't have an answer for that, but as much as possible, I don't have to kill when it's unnecessary."

"Then what happened last night…"

"… Is Konohamaru's mistake, I don't have to tell you what happens when a family member dies in front of you, killed by a person in cold blood." Naruto interrupted as he walked away, hands in his pockets.

* * *

Library Island:

Nodoka was patiently waiting for Yue as she read one very fascinating novel. Yue had invited her to go to Library Island today, but only on one of the safer floors. They weren't skilled enough to go through the archives that were far below.

"Yue-chi, just what are you looking for?"

Nodoka turned her head as Haruna looked over at Yue who was standing by the ladder and reading some reference books.

"I've never thought you'd be one to hit the reference books now, Yue-chi. What brought the sudden change?" Haruna asked while Yue kept turning a page and instead of a plastic straw, there was a small flashlight stuck between her teeth this time.

"Folk legends, I'm inspired to look for them right now. That and I need to confirm something." Yue lied.

Out of the three of them, only Haruna was yet to be informed of what was Negi's real identity along with Naruto and Konohamaru's. She supposed it was okay to keep it a secret as much as possible. Any more involvement from people that don't have a clue of what was going on would have to be utterly troublesome on their part.

"H-Have you found anything useful so far?" Nodoka asked, Yue could only shake her head in dismay.

"So far, the only thing mentioned about an ancient beast with tails as emphasis has only been one. It's pretty common up in the north but it's more like an old wife's tale." Yue said as she climbed down the stairs and closed the book in her hand, piling it up with the rest of her discarded reference material.

"What is it?"

"The Nine-tailed Youko." Yue mentioned. And as if suspense had been triggered, it felt like thunder booming into the skies.

"Wow, talk about revelations." Haruna said in wonder as she looked upwards towards the sunroof, the sky was dimming and dark clouds seemingly looked like it was about to fall over below.

"Eh? But aren't nine tailed foxes usually benevolent?" Nodoka asked, there was one folk story that involved a tiller and wishing for a beautiful wife, was granted one in the form of a shape shifting kitsune. It was short and sweet, something Nodoka found quite beautiful.

"Yes, but there are also troublemakers that abound the legends, many say that a kitsune with enough powers, can posses people and drive them insane. They call that state, Kitsune-tsuki. And with Konohamaru-sensei's warnings about not associating with such, I doubt that this monster would be benevolent." Yue said with a scowl as she sat on her chair and grabbed the juice box placed on the table.

"Still, even with my suspicions, I would not put it past as a matter of speculation."

Haruna looked at the two and finally grew suspicious.

"So what are you two talking about that makes it really serious?" Haruna asked, Yue shuddered for a moment before thinking of an excuse.

"Naruto-sensei gave me extra credit for my failing grades in his subject." Yue added that. Haruna scratched the back of her head at this.

"Really? I always thought that no one fails in his subjects once he tries to give a translation from Katakana to Kanji then to Hiragana, he always explains things in a simple manner with analogies. Though it can be a given he can be difficult to understand once he translates English words to Japanese. He says he has some form experience in them, but sometimes it gets difficult for him since English wasn't his first language to begin with. Though I'd have to wonder about that one, he basically looks like a foreigner with those features."

"That's because I didn't do any of my homework for him these past few weeks." She added. Sometimes Haruna's mind was so troublesome to deal with, it was a good thing Yue had ample time to think up of a good excuse for it.

* * *

With Naruto:

Naruto inwardly cursed, he was thinking about it again. He needed some time to cool off his head or distract him long enough that he would forget such a thing. To his surprise, he found himself in the fashion capital of Harajuku once more.

He gave a sigh. Not the best place to take his mind off things but he might as well make the most of it. Speaking of which, he had to make up for lost ground and buy a CD here, who knows when he might discover a rap song Bee would love.

Once he had done so, the blonde looked around once more in the district, taking sights and looking at the people that were bustling through its busy city streets.

"Ah, Naruto-sensei!"

That interrupted Naruto's musings as he looked around and found the source of the voice. It was the cheerleading trio.

"What are you doing here?" Madoka asked and Naruto simply shrugged.

"Had to find time to take my mind off of some things, there's been some problems I've been having as of late." Naruto informed with a sheepish smile.

"So even the ever enthusiastic Naruto-sensei gets his fair share of problems, eh? Don't worry! I know just the thing to make you forget about your problems for a while!" Sakurako said this with a grin of her own as Madoka and Misa looked rather unsure about it.

"Umm, I don't know about that, Sakurako, we have homework to do and Nitta-sensei's been slave driving us for a week." Madoka informed and Naruto raised his arms to his chest to gracefully deny the offer.

"Y-you guys should concern yourself with your homework more, I know that old stick-in-the-mud has been hawking over your class since you topped the last test, at least, that's what I heard from Negi."

"Nonsense! When a person is down on his luck, we, the cheerleading trio, are there to raise spirits!" Sakurako exclaimed as Madoka and Misa suddenly flinched.

Misa slightly leaned closer to Madoka and whispered to the girl, "Don't you think it's just because of Naruto-sensei?"

Madoka nodded her head knowingly.

"I HEARD THAT!" Sakurako said as she turned around with a blush on her face towards her two companions.

The two immediately apologized thereafter.

Madoka sighed at this and tilted her head downwards, "Fine, we'll go to karaoke, but Naruto-sensei has to help us with our homework tonight!"

Naruto grumbled, ever since he was a kid he hated doing homework, he would often go to school not passing it, not because he was defiant, he simply either forgot or had no good reference material. Iruka had tried to let the habit vanish when he began tutoring the blonde after his detentions and punishments, but the damage had already been done. It seemed like Naruto just got used to not passing a single paper for his homework which irritated Iruka.

"H-Hey, can't I turn down your offer or something? I don't really have that big of a problem." Naruto mitigated.

"Request denied! We're going to karaoke right now!" Sakurako shouted and pulled the reluctant blonde by the arm.

"Okay, okay, I'll accept your deal under one condition." Naruto finally gave in as Sakurako rejoiced.

"What, Naruto-sensei?" Misa asked.

"What's your homework about?" Naruto asked and the three looked at each other and grinned. If he knows Nitta, the man would have most likely gave a book report about some ancient literature piece or something. Naruto could have sworn that man had a telephone pole and not a stick up his ass.

"Jiraiya no Goketsu no Monogatari (Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya)!"

Seeing as his sensei's name had popped up in that short story, he would later have a laughing fit of what it actually was.

Maybe buying Tsunade a gift or two wouldn't be so bad at all. Just imagine what her reaction would be when he read it out loud in front of her!

* * *

To be continued…

Well, here's chapter seventeen! A bit of an introspective for both Naruto and Konohamaru, and their interactions with some members of the class that aren't part of the inner circle yet (Eva, Chachamaru, Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna, Kaede, Yue, and Nodoka), though I have more planned for the next chapters to come, I'm going to need to moderate my writing for a moment, I have a big test coming up and I need to concentrate which is really important for me to enter into a proper post graduate school. Well, here's to my readers and please leave a review! Sorry about this. This is only what I could muster right now due to my busy schedule. I'll probably add more next time, but until then, I ask you guys to please be patient as I have a lot to finish in this year alone.


	18. Compromise!

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Eighteen: Compromise!

* * *

"Stop laughing, Naruto-sensei! I thought you said you were going to help us with our homework!" Madoka shouted as the blonde couldn't help but let out another series of laughs.

"HA HA HA HA! I-I can't help it! This story has got to be the funniest thing I've read in a while, seriously!" Naruto mentioned and when the laughter was slowly fading back, the girls didn't know what was funny about the story, in fact they found it quite archaic. Perhaps Naruto-sensei was more old-fashioned than he looked? When the laughter FINALLY died down, Naruto closed the textbook with a smile still strewn on his face. Memories of his mentor suddenly flashed through his mind, recalling his ever beloved sensei and that perverted grin of his.

Naruto couldn't forget. He was the person that taught him so much, the person that gave him a chance. What the girls in front of her didn't know was the melancholy that Naruto felt as he laughed throughout the entire book. A bittersweet moment brought out by the name that christened him with a ramen topping.

A stupid coincidence, but to Naruto, it was a very important moment. It was the name his parents chose, the proof of their love both to each other and to him. So who was he to say that it was an ugly name? Perhaps it was the only keepsake that Naruto actually cherished the most aside from his father's skills or his mother's traits. He may have learned his father's jutsu, but to him, compared to his name, if he had the choice of choosing between his name and his jutsus at the top of the list of his handful of cherished possessions, he would gladly choose his name. Jutsus can be earned, but names are a given. Both from his parents and his godfather, he couldn't just take it for granted, no, he wasn't like that.

"Okay, book report time. I've never been a really objective type of person since I suck at that. Hell, I barely passed my finals. So let's do this differently. Let's try to come up with some lesson that we can learn from the book. How's that for literature and Nitta's prune faced lectures?" Naruto asked with a grin at this and the three girls nodded.

"Okay, let's start with you, Sakurako." Naruto then pointed to the girl with the pigtails.

"Love conquers all!" She said instantly. Naruto had to grin at that, Jiraiya and Tsunade, who knew?

"Naruto-sensei, that isn't funny!" Sakurako said, feeling a little insulted, Naruto had to apologize.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just that something really made me remember about the names. I'd prefer that you don't ask about that, it's really personal even though it was kind of funny. But seriously, care to elaborate on that, Sakurako-chan?"

Naruto then looked back at the book as Sakurako nodded and she stood up.

"I liked how Jiraiya fell in love with the princess and how the princess was willing to throw away her status just for her love of the man. Even though many of the magic that they do make them severely incompatible, it didn't become an obstacle to their ever budding romance!" Sakurako finished and Naruto had to scratch the back of his head at this.

"Still pretty short, but I guess you could add some more sentences to that. What about you, Madoka-chan?"

"It was rather vague I'm afraid, I mean the ending. There was no clear indication that Orochimaru was defeated by the two lovers. Only that they were saved by one of Jiraiya's apprentices and that was it. So I really can't come up with something that would really make an impact other than Sakurako's. But if I have to go for another, I would have to say the importance of chivalry within a society. Jiraiya and his band of thieves and pirates remind me of another story about chivalrous thieves. I guess romance doesn't necessarily equate to intimate relations."

Naruto nodded at this and then added as an afterthought, "I was never one to read books, you know, but I guess that will do. Probably add more scenes in that to make it longer and Nitta won't even notice."

He then leaned in closer and whispered to the three, "That's because I saw him grading papers without even reading the essays. But don't tell him I said that!"

The three girls instantly laughed at this at the thought of the uptight Nitta procrastinating on his job.

"But enough about that let's see what Misa-chan has to say!" The blonde mentioned with a smile and Misa nodded.

"I like how Jiraiya's passion to restore honour in his clan was what motivated him to excel! He had so many trials in his life and he resorted to many things just to have a place in the world. I think the most important part of the novel was what made Jiraiya a hero was because he didn't give up, not even once!"

Naruto gave a small smile at this and nodded, "That's right, people may call me old fashioned but this was the first thing that came to my mind when I first read it was his guts to never give up, reminds me of a novel that my own sensei once showed to me. Giving up means you don't have what it takes to achieve your dreams, giving up means you can't see past your problems. Giving up means counting your failures and shouldering them, nothing will ever happen if you don't push through, and sometimes, the only thing that would be stopping you are your own two feet."

"So in other words, you're like a very stubborn ox, Naruto-sensei?" Sakurako asked with a smile on her face.

"I prefer the term, _'determined'_. You say that as if it was an insult." Naruto glared and gave a pout. The girls found it quite childish yet endearing.

The girls laughed at this as Naruto somewhat gave a smile at this and stood up.

"Well now, I think I've done my part in your little assignment." Naruto said this as he stood up and stretched. As he was about to exit the door, the three girls thanked him graciously and the blonde smiled, this time, one of his simple ones, sincere ones that were only present when relief washed over him.

"I couldn't say exactly who helped who here, but I think I should be the one thanking you girls." He said and with that, he left while the girls looked utterly confused at this.

"I've never seen Naruto-sensei smile like that…" Sakurako said with a blush and the other two nodded.

* * *

Evangeline's Villa:

"So boy, have you decided to what to become?" Evangeline asked with a smirk on her face.

Negi nodded at this with a serious face, "I've decided I want to become a magic swordsman."

"Just like your father, eh? Very well, you have your choice. But remember this, Bouya. The road to being a magic swordsman is not a specialization of one aspect of fighting. It's a culmination of both body and mind. Moving while chanting a spell, knowing when and how to strike an enemy up close, with or without a weapon, that's what being a magical swordsman is all about! Now prepare for your training Bouya, I'll make sure you receive the worst punish- I mean, best training yet." Evangeline's smirk turned wicked and her features darkened, to her side, Chachamaru and Chachazero appeared, one had her hands raised for a particular stance while the other had brandished her butcher knife that was roughly twice the size as her.

Negi felt his skin turned pale for a moment as he asked Evangeline, "W-Wait master! Don't I get a teammate here?"

"For today? No."

His blood ran cold.

One hour later, Negi was sprawled on the ground, his body feeling the effects of Evangeline's ruthless assault on him moments earlier. No, make that Evangeline and her puppets' murderous rampage towards him. He could feel that even his toes were aching in pain.

"That was pathetic, Bouya! You expect to become a magical swordsman with this ability alone? I should kill you right now to save you the suffering of not ever finding your father!" Evangeline shouted. Negi just tried to put it back in his head; this was Evangeline's form of motivation. With a grit of his teeth, Negi forced himself back up, not noticing he was now wearing a scowl on his face. Somehow, what Evangeline said managed to hit a sore spot.

"Are you mad, Bouya?" The vampire taunted, she noticed the expression quickly when she looked at Negi. Her devilish smirk growing even further from seeing the boy's reaction, she snapped her fingers and Chachamaru and Chachazero were on her side again.

"Good, then channel that anger into your training. Learn from it, use it as fuel!"

And Negi simply nodded.

Evangeline watched as the boy of ten charged at her with no second guessing. Although futile, she found his determination/stubbornness quite amusing. She watched as Chachamaru and Chachazero intercepted him with great ease, all the while her mind had been elsewhere.

Particularly to the gesture Naruto had showed her.

She could never understand that boy, just like how she could never understand Nagi. Perhaps what was most intriguing however was his action to show her his mission reports and top secret files, she had never even heard of a person so trusting as that man.

She knew he was risking a lot by giving her the information. Normally she would consider this an act of negligence on his part. But from what she could see from the blonde, she could tell that he was unfazed just by showing those files to her. What did Naruto want from her that showed her such a display of near stupidity just by showing her the abilities of every jinchuuriki and consequently HIS own as well?

A minor ripple in her barrier brought her out of her musings as she saw Negi being sent flying from across the arena.

"Ah, I almost thought I had her…" Negi mentioned as he got up, forcing his body, riddled with aches and pains, to stand up. Naruto training in pain tolerance was showing its results even though barely. Negi would still be too soft by any of her standards or possibly even Naruto's.

"That was good, Bouya, you're learning. Learn to turn that anger into a blade. It would be your sharpest one yet. Now stand, Bouya, we have more to do."

Negi couldn't help but feel more pain was about to go his way.

* * *

Back at the apartment:

Konohamaru was sleeping soundly when a large gush of water was thrown on his face along with a small bucket that slammed on his head.

The young Sarutobi was startled awake and jolted upwards when that cold stream of water hit his face.

"**HOLY HELL, WHAT THE FUCK?"**

Konohamaru cursed nigh indefinitely when his sleep was suddenly disturbed by the sudden downpour on his face.

"Get up, stupid apprentice. You've got training to do." Naruto said as he went for his closet and pulled out his orange tracksuit.

Konohamaru looked flabbergasted at this; didn't he say he wouldn't train him for over a week as some sort of punishment?

As if reading his mind, the blonde said to him while changing in the bathroom.

"Get your ass together and we'll go to Eva-chan's resort. I need to talk to her after our training."

Okay so maybe Naruto couldn't read his mind back there, but Konohamaru obliged. All the while, Naruto said to him while he was waiting outside.

"I've decided."

Konohamaru somewhat remained stationary about it as the blonde continued, "Whatever happens to you, you're just going to solve it on your own. I'm only going to teach you but I won't guide you as to what you should choose. I know better than that to force someone to choose their paths. So here is what I'll say."

"I'm going to be your sensei, but I won't hold your hand. What you do about what you've learned is up to you. Just continue…"

"…To walk forward, right?" Konohamaru asked, and got out with his shinobi attire.

"Am I really that predictable?" The blonde asked, somewhat irritated at the fact his apprentice had cut him off.

"On some cases, yes." The apprentice said without skipping a beat.

"Huh… Well, I guess I'll just have to come up with a new line." Naruto said as he grabbed his scroll and shouldered it. It felt weird not wearing that red Haori over his track suit now. It simply didn't feel like complete now with that part of his wardrobe gone.

A thoughtful expression escaped his features as the duo was walking towards Evangeline's cottage unaware of the person who was pestering them along the way.

Perhaps Shima would be so kind as to create a new one. Naruto deeply in thought never noticed Kotaro had been tugging his jacket.

"Kinpatsu-onii-san, please teach me how to fight!" Insisted the dog boy.

"Ignore him, Kotaro. He's deep in his thoughts right now. Bothering him right would just aggravate you since he'll snap out of it eventually."

"Hmm… You say something, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, his thoughts grinding to a halt once he heard his apprentice's voice.

"I said Kotaro wants to be your student badly." He said and the blonde looked somewhat convinced.

"Oh." He finished rather bluntly which flabbergasted the young boy. He never expected the blonde to answer so flippantly. He thought a lot of masters always had some weird criterion or something.

"That's it? Do I get a yes or no?" The boy asked while Naruto looked like he was thinking rather deeply for this.

"Well, from what my apprentice tells me, you've got the ability to clone yourself like Kaede does. You also have the ability to use dog like projectiles at your enemies and project your aura as a weapon. Quite a resume there, kiddo, perhaps it's even better than Negi right now." Naruto remarked when they made into a left turn, they made a stop to a rather gigantic rock. The blonde leaped and landed quite gracefully at the top of the object and turned back to Kotaro.

Three meters wide and eight meters tall, the blonde patted the rock below him with his right hand and said to Kotaro.

"Of course, I'm looking for someone determined enough to finish my lessons. Negi seems to be doing well in that regard, but it was more out of curiosity just to see how far he can go. You, however, before you could even think of being my student. Have to pass this one test."

"What?" Kotaro asked with as serious expression. Naruto couldn't help but chuckle.

"I want you to destroy this rock into smithereens with just only your fists. No using your familiars or anything of the sort. No time limits as long as you do it." Naruto mentioned this as he grabbed an empty scroll and began weaving his hands on it like an artist bent on finishing his sketch.

"What are you doing?" The dog boy asked as Naruto weaved on his scroll like he had done so for decades.

"We can't be doing any of that stuff here, so we'll be doing this at Eva-chan's place instead." The blonde replied and nodded before sealing the rock inside the scroll.

When they got to Evangeline's though, they were met with Setsuna, who was looking rather unsurely at the cottage, probably intent on some answers from Evangeline.

"Ah, Setsuna, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, his attention going from Kotaro to Setsuna immediately as she tried to compose herself.

"I want some answers regarding to what happened last night, the attacks, the statements and what it felt like fighting these things."

Naruto looked serious at this and said to her, "Don't tell me you want to fight the bijuu as well… You don't have a reason to. I suggest you back down if you know what's good for you."

Setsuna stepped back all of a sudden, that intense gaze Naruto had shown her made her step back a little.

"But from what happened last night, Konoka-Ojou-sama was greatly affected. If her involvement with Negi-sensei would mean the involvement of these beasts, then I am willing to draw my blade and cut them down if need be." Setsuna said with utter conviction. Naruto simply approached her and flicked her forehead a little. The swordswoman looked confused as the slight stinging sensation on her forehead forced her to gently rub it.

"I've got your backs for the Bijuu. Don't worry about a thing. They are our problems not yours. Don't even think of taking one of them on in your current state. If any of you try to take one of those Bijuu on, you'll all be wiped out. The reason why I'm even alive right now was thanks to Evangeline. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have the time to set up a proper seal."

Setsuna didn't look convinced at all. It felt like she was putting her foot down and she wanted answers even if she had to stand there for the rest of the night.

Naruto simply sighed at this and led her inside the cottage.

"We're going to the resort?" Setsuna asked and Naruto simply nodded.

"That's right. Its better you get the idea of fighting one from Evangeline rather than asking me. She was the one who got hit by the full brunt of its attacks." Naruto mentioned this and with a white light, the four of them were quickly absorbed into the villa.

* * *

With Negi and Evangeline:

Throughout the whole first day, Negi had been training quite hard and fighting poorly against Evangeline. He was terribly outnumbered, heavily outgunned. With Chachamaru and Chachazero on Evangeline's side, she was nigh untouchable.

But something else was occupying his thoughts right now, the fact that her master had just faced off against a bijuu and lived.

"Master, I have a question to ask you." Negi said out of the blue as the vampire merely raised an eyebrow at this. Her curiosity rising out of her, Evangeline turned back to Negi, who looked at his master very, very seriously.

"How did it feel like fighting a bijuu?" He asked the vampire. Evangeline merely looked at the redhead with a frown as she turned her gaze to one of her puppets.

"I don't have it in me to feel any thrill in a life or death situation, Bouya. I'm a vampire, an immortal. Fearing death has never been an issue for me. But from a mortal's perspective, I guess I can give it one word to describe it."

Evangeline paused for dramatic effect as a cold and chilly wind had managed its way across the villa.

"…Terrifying. The fact that a human was facing off an opponent that was an immortal and near intangible in aspects is quite enough to send them to the deep end and commit suicide. Only someone who takes into account that they really could possibly die out there would be able to stand their ground. That or they are complete idiots."

Within seconds of saying that answer, Evangeline's thoughts drifted back to Naruto's behaviour and actions since last night, or more accurately, just two hours ago. If Naruto had a simple Death Wish, then this was it. Releasing all those documents would absolutely cost him his head. Those were records that weren't meant for her, they were meant for high ranking officials or at least, operatives that function to keep those secrets hidden.

"Yo, Eva-chan, sorry for the intrusion, but it I've decided to continue Konohamaru's training after all."

The master and apprentice looked back at the waving blonde teacher and along with him were Setsuna and Kotaro.

"Why did you try to invade my villa then if you're going to just train? As I recall you were fine your own with your apprentice pulling rubber tires while he ran."

"Eva-chan, that sounds terribly demeaning for a training method! I'll have you know a simple jogging exercise goes a long way!" Naruto said, mock hurting as he pouted.

"Besides, after spending two days here, you'd be deadest on some questions that I haven't answered yet." Naruto said this with a grin.

He had a hunch that Evangeline wanted to know why he gave her sensitive information so easily.

"As much as I want to, I'm busy right now; I'll tell you when everything's settled."

And truthfully, she wanted to ask right now. How could this boy trust her so easily? Did he think that sensitive information like this wasn't that important? No, Naruto maybe an idiot but he was by no means a complete fool who didn't understand what top secret meant.

"Well if you must know, if they were really official mission records, I wouldn't even be having them in the first place. Not really my thing to give out village secrets, you know."

The rest who didn't get any of that statement looked utterly confused at this and tilted their heads sideward. Well, everyone except Konohamaru who frowned at it while his eyes narrowed.

"Mission records?" He echoed.

"_Unofficial _mission records, or should I say back logs. Most of the time they were only there for keeping track of what I did during the war." Naruto corrected.

"You do realize that's treason, right?"

"No. That's because baa-chan doesn't even know this. Heck, not even Kakashi-sensei or Sakura-chan is aware of it. Not even Sai. Only three of us knew they exist and each of us has a copy for our own sakes and generally for the world."

Konohamaru's mental gears were spinning at this as he finally concluded at what Naruto had been doing during the war, if the Hokage didn't know about these records and none from Konoha even knew about them, then obviously, the remaining two would be outsiders. Who? He didn't know. But the fact that these kinds of information were likely highly sensitive material, that meant one thing. With a loud voice, Konohamaru shouted at the blonde with all his might.

"YOU DESERTED THE VILLAGE!" The brunette shouted, and Naruto snorted at that and crossed his arms in an indignant huff.

"I'll have you know I never deserted the village. I disobeyed orders that almost cost me my ninja status, but I never left my village in the first place. What do you take me for?" Naruto asked. Indeed, he never left the village, but it didn't mean he was willing to listen to his superiors of sitting put. That would have cost them the war.

"Someone who's a real idiot! Did you even realize the implications of going against those orders? You're lucky you weren't executed!"

Naruto looked annoyed at this, "Konohamaru, don't talk to me about disobeying orders. I almost sacrificed my dream to stop Madara. You think I could care becoming Hokage at that time when everything was going to hell?"

"You can't be Hokage if you were stripped off your rank." Konohamaru mentioned this, with a growl slowly escaping from his mouth sounding like he was trying hard not to punch Naruto.

"And I can't be Hokage if I'm dead. Either way, I was pretty much fucked. So I had to choose something that gave me a fighting chance."

"This… You… I… I can't believe THIS! I can't believe you risked your dream for something that we could've won in the end!" Konohamaru blurted out after scratching his head with both his hands in frustration.

"Konohamaru, my decisions are my own. Remember what I said earlier?" Naruto finished as he turned back to Evangeline.

The brunette stopped at that and growled at this and turned his head away from the blonde in frustration.

"Wow, even though he can be pretty ruthless, the monkey onii-san is funny." Kotaro said this and Naruto nodded sagely, as if confirming this fact while Konohamaru interjected.

"Don't call me a monkey!"

Konohamaru simply huffed at this and looked indignant. Chachazero, who was watching the conversation, added her own two cents in it.

"It looks like the grumpy monkey has got a lot of anger issues."

Evangeline simply rolled her eyes at this as Naruto gave a howl of laughter so loud, it echoed all around the villa.

"I hate you." Konohamaru mumbled and tried to hide (although miserably) the fact that he was seething at that as the blonde said in between his chuckles, "Come on, Angry monkey boy, we're hitting the stakes up higher than usual! One hundred laps!"

Konohamaru groaned at this while Evangeline had a raised eyebrow. She turned her attention back to the blonde who was now instructing Kotaro about what he was about to do.

Apparently, another ragamuffin had managed to end up under his care as well. She didn't know where the blonde idiot picked this trait from, but it was obvious that many of the children were looking at him with awe.

"B-But that's impossible, Kinpatsu-onii-san! I can't obliterate a rock twice my size with just my strength alone!" Kotaro reasoned it like he was about to do the impossible.

"Yeah? Well, I met girls who can punch harder than you. And they could SO destroy this thing with a punch."

Naruto once again patted the giant rock that he carried with his seal. Kotaro was instantly attentive at what Naruto said.

Hook.

Line.

And Sinker.

While it's true Kotaro didn't like to hit girls, he was still in that phase of childhood. Where the competition of both genders seemed like more than ANYTHING right now. Of course, given the fact that Kotaro had this sense of chivalry in him, it would be a given because of his mindset.

"You're saying I hit like a girl, onii-san?"

"What was that?"

Within earshot, Evangeline turned her head sharply towards the blonde shinobi who only looked at Eva sideways before turning back to Kotaro.

"I'm not saying you hit like a girl, I'm just saying a lot of girls from my home hit harder than you and more painful."

Tsunade and Sakura came into mind.

Remembering those two had forced memories into his mind that Naruto did not want. Particularly, the incident in the hot springs and the whole 'card game' incident that winded him in the hospital for three days due to possible brain damage. Tsunade didn't know how to hold back sometimes and Sakura was quickly becoming one as well. Technically, they pound chakra to the point of impact and then release it just as quickly for devastating results, but he wouldn't tell Kotaro that. He was going to see if Ki had the same applications as Chakra, and though he felt a little mean in issuing this experiment on Kotaro, he felt it was better to see this from someone easier to manipulate rather than Kaede who can sense if something was seriously wrong in the scenario.

"So you ARE saying that I hit like a girl!" Kotaro fumed and he went to the rock to start what Naruto had instructed.

"No, but I can say that Eva-chan hits harder than you, you little runt."

"UZUMAKI, GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Evangeline roared and barked in order, the apprentices and servants watched as both masters were discussing with each other. Evangeline in particular, looked rather annoyed while Naruto was completely oblivious and utterly confused. Just then, the talk became more intense when Naruto was trying to reason out his statements before it became to a full blown shouting match.

"I never implied that! I said a lot of girls back home hit particularly hard! I didn't say they hit weaker than me, where the hell did you get that idea? Hell, they could even hit harder than you and baa-chan can effectively swing a four storey size knife! What makes you think I'm sexist for saying stuff like that?"

"End of discussion, Uzumaki! This time we have a different training session! Sakurazaki, Chachamaru, Chachazero, get over here so we can to prove something to this idiot!" Evangeline shouted while Setsuna had to ask, "W-Why am I involved in this as well?"

"So we can have a fair number for a match up!"

Evangeline didn't know why she was angry at this. She knew something had triggered a rather large tick at the back of her head. Like some match was lit. The fact that this was Naruto was the icing to the cake.

"Okay, now you're just being unreasonable." Naruto commented his hands were at his sides as he gave a sigh, what the hell did he say that got her so mad?

"No room for talk! Get to the boys and we'll see just who is superior here!" Evangeline said rather hastily, Naruto shook his head and went back.

"Damn it, I thought I would never say this, but I think I'll pick up a line from Shikamaru that fits women at these kinds of situations. They're troublesome." Naruto said and turned back to the group of boys that were staring at him, Konohamaru, who had only been running for a good ten laps immediately stopped and stared back at his master.

"Alright boys, the master of the house just told us she was going to give us a team match. Basically, whoever has the most people standing on their team is going to win. At least, that's how I see it. But if you really ask me why she's doing this, I just think her menopause was long overdue." Naruto said that last part with a whisper.

"She's in a ten year old's body." Konohamaru pointed that fact out to the blonde in a deadpan manner.

"What's menopause, Naruto-nii-san?" Negi asked innocently and Konohamaru frigidly paused at this while Naruto looked to his side, looking unsure.

"It's just something you'll have to learn when you grow up."

"Eh? Why do all the grown ups get to learn it and we don't?" Kotaro asked and Naruto flicked the dog boy's forehead with his index finger.

"Because you're still a kid and kids should learn this when they are old enough to not experience any sort of mental breakdown."

Kotaro shuddered at this as the dog boy felt like he shouldn't have asked the question, "I'm starting to think that the answer isn't worth it."

The dog boy looked over the blonde's shoulder and noticed that the girls were already standing and waiting for them to get into formation. Kotaro didn't know what was going on but from what he could process, it seemed like they were fighting the girls.

"I don't like this at all. I don't like hitting girls."

Naruto rolled his eyes to the side, "Okay, since you volunteered, you're going to fight that little robot doll with the knives."

"Wait, WHAT? That's out of the question, nii-san! Even though she's a robot, she still looks like a girl!" Kotaro silently exclaimed as they huddled. He then looked over his shoulder again, and saw the small puppet was carving her butcher knife with another one.

Chachazero was indeed a girl, a girl that could dismember you and spill out your guts, that is. But that didn't mean he was going to tell Kotaro about it. Let the kid learn through experience as he always says, the better he gets to know how it feels like to be cut up to ribbons, the better he'll handle himself on how to NOT underestimate women like that.

"Okay change of plans, if you can land a hit on Chachazero during this fight, I'll teach you a secret on how you can destroy that rock."

"Bribing me isn't going to work, nii-san." Kotaro replied, while Naruto ignored it.

"So that leaves Chachamaru against Negi and Setsuna against Konohamaru while I handle Eva-chan, everything clear?"

"Hey wait a minute, I never agreed to this…" Kotaro said in defiance but was eventually cut off when the boys got up from their huddle.

He was ignored when the two nodded at this. For whatever reason Eva had that was pissing her off and since most of them didn't have any idea what the hell was going on, they decided to just ride with the flow.

"Insanity is terribly contagious." Negi muttered this and only Konohamaru could hear.

"While I find this whole thing to be generally confusing and utterly petty, sometimes I can't help but feel that I need to have some fun sometimes." Konohamaru said this with a grin on his face.

"Y-You call this fun?" Negi asked incredulously as Konohamaru nodded.

"Nothing like a mindless brawl to drive out all the negative energy!" Naruto exclaimed and grinned at this, as he looked to his west, the sunset being a perfect setting for this showdown.

"And the sunset paints a perfect picture right now as well!" Naruto covered his brow with his hand and lightly shielded his eyes from the sun's rays.

"Are you just going to stand there or what? You're making me awfully bloodthirsty for not going for the first move!" Evangeline yelled impatiently and Naruto simply shrugged.

For the first few moments that each group were standing on, they were unmoving, staring each other down in complete stillness. Neither group moved as a simple twitch would be all that was needed to usher in a huge pandemonium. In such a tranquil yet hair trigger situation, all of the people involved grew tense as a gentle yet cold wind wisped its way throughout the villa.

"Energy build up detected, going for the offensive." Chachazero mentioned this, her eyes turning to a dangerous red as her offensive protocols have been activated, and the red in her eyes seemingly leaving streaks as she headed first. The little puppet had noticed it quickly as she felt energy rise from the blonde's feet. It seemed that the wind was the blonde ninja's doing.

In a fit of surprise, Kotaro was taken back when the small puppet went for her with an overhead slice. The dog boy jumped back just in time before Chachazero could effectively cut off half of his face, the small strands of hair indicated how accurate Chachazero was in delivering that blow.

"Hey! This is only a mock fight! No need to be so close to the real thing!"

Konohamaru suddenly interrupted the dog boy when he jumped between him and the puppet with a hand seal ending in Tiger.

"Katon: Housenka! (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Flower)"

The volley of flames pelted Chachazero who seemed agile enough despite the size of her weapons, to dodge the incoming spray of fireballs that peppered towards her.

In response, Chachamaru was quick to take action in taking out Konohamaru who had now pressed his attack towards the puppet and was nearing their territory, she dashed forward at inhuman speed and prepared a fist to strike the brunette down, Konohamaru quickly leaned back as he let the fist sail just above his face for a hair's breath and instantly jumped back in a somersault while going through another set of seals.

Before he could even finish, Setsuna was already on him like a hounding predator, about to intercept him in mid air as Chachamaru went straight towards his back, sandwiching him between the two girls.

In a seemingly desperate manoeuvre, Konohamaru stretched his hands back thus letting it land of Chachamaru's head. Using her head as leverage, Konohamaru motioned for another somersault and landed safe on the ground like a lithe cat. The brunette instantly jumped back while Negi was already prepared to fire his spell.

"Sagitta Magica Serius Fragterius (Magical Barrage: Seventeen arrows of thunder)!" Negi shouted and out came seventeen streaks of thunder heading straight towards Evangeline.

The girl simply grinned as she cast such a simple spell away with but a flick of her hand due to her magical barrier.

"Eh? That's not fair! Master is a seriously strong magician! I can't compare to that!" Negi shouted.

"Speak for yourself, Negi-sensei!" Setsuna shouted as she was forced back to the defensive when Naruto was pressing on the attack, a very vicious but playful one at that, each strike was deadly fast, accurate and powerful, and although it gave a lot of openings for such an unpolished style, she couldn't counterattack very well, Naruto got too close from her optimal swinging range of the Nodachi she had and he would mostly dodge and try to counter at unexpected angles. Setsuna shuddered to think of what Naruto-sensei can do if he was actually using his main combat style, the one he used on Konohamaru during the start of Negi's training.

To her saving grace, Chachamaru had jumped in and accompanied her. She parried Naruto's incoming fist with her right hand and it sailed past through her. She was about to give a proper counter with a punch of her when Setsuna made her move. She jumped just above Chachamaru, a seemingly improbable height for a normal human and twisted in mid-air before giving a powerful downward slash after unsheathing her blade. Naruto jumped back as the blade barely missed him.

He grinned while Setsuna readied himself for a proper stance.

"I don't know how this has happened but I think this is the best way to know just what it's like fighting someone who could have survived fighting a bijuu."

Naruto shrugged and casually said to Setsuna, "Okay then. It's your funeral."

With that, Naruto reached for his favourite technique with that grin of his.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With those words, three clones popped into existence and charged straight at the two girls. The two Narutos were however going for a wide arc, most likely to corner them with a pincer move while the one in the middle charged them head on. Chachamaru and Setsuna leaned back to back while they were careful not to be taken off guard. Naruto was a master of trick plays as they observed, he was cunning and used tactics on the fly that would render them completely open at one side.

Setsuna carefully gripped her sword firmly near her shoulders as she held it horizontally, her focus sharpening as that of her blade. The Nodachi glowed in orange as it bathed in the rays of the artificial sunset of the villa.

Just as when Naruto was close within her striking range, a small ripple in space surrounded the blonde and Setsuna quickly noticed how Naruto suddenly went past her without the swordswoman giving a proper reaction. It was as if he phased out of her line of vision and appeared past her and Chachamaru as quick as he came.

She clenched her teeth, to late to realize that they weren't his prime targets. His target was Evangeline who was performing another spell!

Chachamaru was about to intervene when she noticed that Chachazero had already went ahead and going after their most vulnerable target yet.

Kotaro.

The young dog god looked utterly unsure on what to do. He was just standing there and doing basically nothing! To Chachazero, he was easy prey. Chachamaru shook her head at this but instead of focusing on her sister (somewhat), she went to intercept Naruto first until she was ultimately stopped by Negi with a shoulder thrust. Chachamaru reacted, with reflexes calibrated and honed from Hakase's programming and engineering, she had managed to block the attack that Negi had issued.

Setsuna was then the second to respond accordingly and tried to chase after the blonde only to be stopped when Naruto jumped up with Konohamaru on top him. Apparently, he had jumped as well both of them at a seemingly impossible altitude.

"Bullet blast formation?" Naruto asked, and Konohamaru replied accompanying with a nod.

"Whatever works!"

Naruto then grabbed Konohamaru's shirt by the shoulders with both his hands and with a mighty throw, sent Konohamaru crashing down like a dive bomb head first into the pavement below. The brunette quickly formed a seal as he sailed straight to ground below with a loud whistle. His skin turned pitch black, dark as charcoal before he crashed to the floor below earning a powerful shockwave as collective dust and debris permeated the air. Setsuna and Chachamaru were quickly separated while Negi had managed to dodge in time when he saw Naruto jump. The ten year old mage saw that Chachamaru was further away from their master now and sought it fit to distract her. Setsuna was about to stand up when a black hand reached over to her from the smoke and aimed a punch at her she leaned to the side slightly while she used her blade to parry, she could literally hear the clash of steel against steel, iron against iron as sparks fly like miniature fireworks. The metal grinded against the arm as she jumped to the side, the sudden surprise left her astonished as Konohamaru appeared from the smoke, his other hand was about to punch her silly.

Setsuna's eyes widened at this, soon realizing what Konohamaru's ability was just seeing the effects for herself, she jumped back all too quick as Konohamaru quickly chased after her.

'_That ability of Konohamaru-sensei turns his skin into solid steel, no wonder I couldn't land a scratch on it and why he had managed to survive that fall unscathed. This chakra energy is unbelievable! That it's malleable enough to change one's physiology for a certain amount of time is simply astounding. Such a thing would be the clamour of anyone from the magical world if word gets out.'_ Setsuna thought all the while as she tried to compose herself. She needed to stay calm and think this through, if she were a swordswoman protecting her lord, then she must be ready to cut down anything, even the steel that which empowers the warrior.

She opened her eyes and stilled her will to fight. This time, Setsuna was completely still, the Tsuba on her back was placed now to her side and sheathed her blade into it. She crouched low and stood in squatting position as Konohamaru remained ever cautious.

Applying ki to one's own body always seemed to be the first thing to do when she fights. It was a sure fire way to gain victory, she had never thought of once applying it to her blade. This would be the first time she has ever done it to a completely revised version and a different sword style that was not the Shinmeiryuu.

She had seen many masters of Kenjutsu do this during her days of training before being sent to Mahora; it required focus, timing and split second reflexes. It also acquired one thing that confused Setsuna at this point in time, to become one with the blade.

Such a statement had been what Kenjutsu masters had been emphasizing since her younger days. To become one with the sword, to recognize each other's flow, to become both the warrior and the weapon.

As Setsuna steeled her gaze and began focusing her ki towards her blade, she took a common form of an iaido stance, the way of quick drawing. The Shinmeiryuu School focused a lot on practical skill and swinging techniques. She knew that swords were utterly predictable, even the school knew that, so to combat this fatal weakness with the sword, they had to rely on precision, speed and power. As such, many consider the art of quick drawing or Iaido to be a critical part of the battle, but it was completely impractical to many, as the art of drawing with the Iaido, was completely reactionary compared to the more aggressive Battojutsu which relied on both drawing the sword in a lightning fast pace and then continuing to give multiple slashes before finishing. However, Iaido was efficient depending if it's a success or not. It gave a testament to the saying that one slice is equivalent to one kill.

"Ah! Get away you stupid doll!"

Konohamaru and Setsuna's attentions were interrupted when they saw Kotaro evading Chachazero like the plague. Most of the robot girl's attacks were near hits and some were managed to nick him on the shoulder. The dog boy cursed his luck that he had to face a girl.

Kotaro instantly jumped to the side when he saw Chachazero, going low this time and attempting to give him rising vertical slice. With a simple sidestep Kotaro could instantly feel the powerful swing of the blade due to the force of the wind that he felt when Chachazero swung. The dust cloud that picked up during the attack seemingly as tall as him was testament to the little puppet's power as well.

Kotaro gulped.

This was a training session? Oh God, he was surrounded by psychopaths!

Without another word, Chachazero swung her left arm holding the other blade sideways and Kotaro jumped back. Hearing the sound of the weapon slice the air turned Kotaro's skin to pale white while Chachazero was giving that disturbing psychotic grin to him all the while she shouted rather jubilantly, "Squeal little doggy, squeal!"

Kotaro instantly jumped back and formed his familiars, without another word, he let them charge at the robot with the intent to restrain her. All of it was useless though as Chachazero, being the bloodthirsty doll that she was, flipped in the air like a graceful ballerina and sliced them all like a whirling death wind. She was wild, deadly, efficient and absolutely ruthless.

"Aw, come on!" Kotaro said in exasperation as he had to dodge a double thrust coming from below. The fact that the girl was seriously about to tear his face in half was scaring him to death.

Chachazero wasted no time as he chased after Kotaro with a vicious glint in her synthetic eyes. The fact that this puppet was making Kotaro go on the defensive wasn't sitting well with the half demon.

"This is starting to get annoying." Kotaro said with gritted teeth as he continued to dodge Chachazero's merciless assault. The girl had nicked her once more on his left arm and then another on his right thigh. Kotaro winced but didn't have the pleasure of nursing his wounds as Chachazero chased after him like a madman.

To his side, he could see Negi was trading blows with Chachamaru. Negi was using his elbows to block while doing attacks with his feet in different stances. If he knew anything about Kung Fu, it's that it required a lot of footwork and proper posturing in dealing a powerful strike. Often, when Kung Fu practitioners offer a punch, the lean more forward with their torso straight upwards and their front leg would be flexed to the point that the user was squatting. It equated to a powerful punch or elbow thrust. Compared to the style offered in his field of Ninjutsu that required a systematic take down, Kung Fu was more audacious, very angular but damn well effective.

It wasn't one of the oldest living martial arts for nothing.

"_Veniant Spiritus Glaciales! Extentantur Aeri! Tundram et Glaciem, Loci Noctis Albae! (Come, Spirits of Ice! Spread Forth into the Air! Tundra and Glacier in the Realm of White Night!)"_

Evangeline shouted, as she now hovered just above the ground that she was standing on. Naruto, quickly going after her as she hovered further and further away from the battle in order to remain untouchable, formed another Shadow clone seal just as Eva brought her right hand down and cast the name of the spell.

"_Crystallizatio Tellustris! (Frozen Earth!)" _

As the spell was cast, Eva's hand reached and pointed towards the ground that Naruto stood on, ice erupted all around him and spikes shot out like blades of grass growing at an unprecedented rate, his two clones earlier were immediately dispelled. The blonde jumped, barely dodging all the spikes below him as he shouted the name of the technique.

"Don't think you can get away, Eva-chan! Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Mass Shadow Clone Skill)"

In a matter of seconds many of the events that took place on that point had instantly happened. Konohamaru had dashed to Setsuna as the swordswoman drew her blade when Konohamaru was close enough while Konohamaru threw a punch. The two paused as each attack clashed with the other and the two were at the opposite end of the field while they stood as their backs were now facing while a silent and growing anxiety seeped from the two. In an instant, Konohamaru had a gash on the back of his right shoulder while Setsuna fell down, as her shoulder was grazed by the punch. Kotaro had now grew tired of the game of cat and mouse and this time, actually went on the offensive.

Next, Kotaro, seeing Negi fighting such a competent fighter made him grow a back bone about fighting ridiculously strong women. He managed to land a glancing blow at Chachazero while the puppet managed to slice a shallow part of his upper torso. In that moment of adrenalin, Kotaro was heaving like an asthmatic boy before finally being downed. Chachazero looked back and held the glancing blow she had on her forehead, no, it wasn't even a glancing blow, more like a simple poke if anything.

The third was Chachamaru and Negi, with Chachamaru clearly having the upper hand in close quarters combat and disabling Negi because of her advantageous height and reach.

Finally, a row of smoke popped into existence as Naruto created multiple copies of him were now linking with each other, via grabbing their feet as the one on top was grinning madly and latched on to Evangeline like a suction.

"Gotcha', Eva-chan!" The blonde said rather playfully, all the while he embraced the girl with such audacity that the mage had a hard time concentrating her hovering magic that two descended to the ground at a great velocity.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Evangeline, for the first time since in a while, screamed in pure terror as they descended further and further into the waters below.

Naruto was oblivious to the matter of them falling to their otherwise watery grave.

"Oh wow, Eva-chan, for a ten year old body you sure have a beautiful skin!" Naruto said, rubbing his cheek on hers as the two of them descended.

"Oh and your hair is so soft, I should make a pillow out of you!" Naruto said, while the woman in child's body was screaming in abject horror.

Up on the top most part of the villa, the three who had been sparring with each other stopped for a moment as the two powerhouses that each had descended on to the murky waters below.

All six looked down as they saw the two masters as nothing more than a speck in their vision.

"Wow, that's a long way down." Konohamaru commented as he realized for the first time just how far he fell to that height earlier.

"I should tend to master immediately, she does not know how to swim."

"Don't worry. Naruto-nii has this covered." The brunette continued as he never took his eyes off of the crevice just in front of him.

* * *

An hour later:

Naruto was sitting in front of Eva, bruises, a swollen eyelid and a black eye complimented his face due to the stunt he pulled earlier.

Negi, Kotaro, Setsuna and Konohamaru had already left; the two boys and the swordswoman going back to the dorms while Konohamaru went back to the apartment.

"I should kill you for what you did." Evangeline said in contempt as she sipped her tea. Naruto would have wanted to drink, if his lip wasn't swollen in the first place.

"And what made you stop?"

"Because you're the only one who provides me with a limited access to my freedom and eventually, a real one. To dispose of you would be too disastrous on my part."

"Ooh, spoken like a true evil mage." Naruto said in a mocking voice, earning the vampire a groan and a head massage all the while, Naruto continued, "Why not just be dere-dere more on me, Eva-chan? You could just say, 'You may hold my freedom, but you are the only person aside from Nagi-sama to treat me like a child. I'm really happy that you became my friend!'"

"I do NOT call Nagi, Nagi-sama, you idiot! And I'd be damned to hell and back before I talk like that!" She said as her cheeks turned to a rosy colour.

"Your cheeks says otherwise~!" Naruto replied in a sing-song voice.

Eva gave an indignant huff and crossed her arms, really, and this person had the gall to call her childish?

"Well, I guess its time to answer some of your questions, Eva-chan. First, the reason why I gave all of that information to you was that you played a very important role in our battle against the Shukaku. If indeed the story was true based from what Konohamaru told me, then I would need your help in taking these things down. If you can, I would recommend speeding Negi's training for this while I design a new seal to effectively set you free." Naruto then leaned back in the chair and looked up while Evangeline replied, "You're awfully speeding things up, I take that it has something to do with this thing called the Juubi? And what if I refuse?"

"Not only that, what takes matters in precedence here is that I find the eight tailed host. He's the only person left aside from me who's a living Jinchuuriki. And from the statements that Shukaku left, then I'm sure at least that guy is here. And are you kidding me? You want to pass up a chance for freedom, Eva-chan?"

"Point." She said rather begrudgingly, "So what is this person like?"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before he could give a proper answer.

"Well, he's the guy that taught me how to rap so he's cool. Not only that, he's really strong, he's even better than I am with his partial transformations."

"You can do a partial transformation of your own beast as well?"

"It's different from him, actually. Different seals have different effects, remember? His seal is completely different from mine."

With that, Naruto stood up grimaced a little, his face was still aching. Evangeline always manages to leave a bruise in his person. Well, at least she had company.

"Naruto-sensei, I have washed and dried the haori you lent to master since last night. Master insists that she returns it to you as soon as possible."

"Aw, Eva-chan, that's so nice of you!" Naruto said as the girl simply gave a rather distasteful look.

"That's because I didn't want to have something in my person that reminded of you, you idiot! Now get out of my house!" Evangeline shouted a slightly rose coloured tinge in her cheeks rose. He didn't know if it was anger or embarrassment but he didn't care. Getting a rise out of the girl was simply so much fun!

Well, at least he felt a whole lot better right now. He wondered though, from the statement that Shukaku said, it would be highly possible that Killer Bee would have ended up here as well.

* * *

_Flashback:_

"_**Go suck a dick, Kyuubi vessel! I ain't telling shit, you got that! The bijuu happened to materialize because it was your entire fault! You destroyed the Gedo Mazo!"**_

_Well that was easy._

"_**Because of your stupidity, and the total opposition of your nature chakra and our chakra, you created a powerful chakra collision strong enough to have created a black hole to swallow the ENTIRE elemental nations! It was only thanks to the Gedo Mazo that you and the rest of your pathetic kind are still alive!"**_

"_Okay, so now you're here, does this mean that I got sent here because of you?" Naruto asked._

"_**Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because the Bijuu naturally call out to each other? We're pieces of a puzzle you have barely begun to solve, flesh bag!"**_

"_So the moment I did that jutsu..."_

"… _Was the moment you linked your world to ours. In a sense, this really is your entire fault." Evangeline mentioned as she sat down on the chair with a Cheshire grin on her face. So all of these phenomena that occurred around the blonde, was caused none other than Naruto himself? A vacuum of trouble indeed, it seemed the blonde was far too prone to the word too many times._

"_**Ah! I feel the call of my kind reaching for me! They're here, all of them. I know it! They're banding together, reforming what is lost! It would be only a matter of time, Kyuubi Vessel! This seal won't hold me off for long!"

* * *

**_

_Flashback ended_

Naruto sighed, what a predicament he got himself into. He was sure that by the time he got home, the Raikage and Tsunade would have his head for this.

Unknown area:

Everything looked absolutely different from what he saw during his travels. He never expected this place had so much symmetrical buildings that were high rises. Ame had the same structures but they paled in the absolutely stunning architecture around him.

He had been here for two months and already, and so far, this accidental vacation of his was getting awesome!

"Three minutes until your debut begins, Bee-san! Please be ready!"

"Yo, I've been ready ever since my beat got steady, dawg!"

The manager didn't get any of that, Bee doubted anyone got his rhymes, well that is except for his bud, Naruto, but hey, they'll soon warm up to him!

"Whatever, just please try to impress some of the people here, maybe, just maybe your first concert will happen at the prestigious Mahora Academy's Festival!"

Ha! If those people back in Kumo could see him now!

"Take that y'all haters! This is Killer Bee, risin' to the music industry!"

To be continued…

* * *

Author's note: So about that entrance with Killer Bee, yeah, I've been meaning to use him some time. And I felt like this is the best time as any, seeing as what I've originally planned was to get him to fight in the tournament, but that wouldn't be a good idea. Many, many casualties will occur if this guy decides to fight. He's so destructive and deadly it's not even funny.

And of course, I would like to have a special mention at the current Naruto chapter leaving me absolutely speechless. Talk about a big Wham in my face, it was pretty much the best chapter released. Here's hoping the other characters get their well deserved development!

Ah well, I've tried my best for this chapter, hope you all like it!

P.S. Reviews are like my drugs, so please leave some for me!


	19. day out

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Nineteen: Day Out

* * *

It had been quite serene in the Elemental Countries since the Fourth Great Shinobi War. And many of the events that occurred during the final stages of it had impacted the world and put it in a state of shock. Many of the villages were decimated prior to or during the war itself. Konoha had been one of them. They were crippled, utterly devastated and the events that occurred after its destruction, spiralled into the bloodiest and perhaps the most horrifying battle to have occurred in history. Many legends grew amidst the blood bath. The lands were littered and painted red with blood. Corpses of different people, killed in surprisingly simple ways while some were mutilated beyond recognition, stained the lands that tore the continent apart.

Sacrifices were made and many were futile. But in the end, amidst all of the carnage and gore, the side of good ultimately prevailed. What saving grace played a hand in the victory of the allied nations against insurmountable odds, many would never know. But to a select few, the day that the earth stood still occurred when a lone boy went beyond the call of duty to confront the final battle.

As the end drew to a close in this chapter of the world's history, so did many of the hidden villages that were left crippled by the war. Particularly, the five great nations themselves, gravely affected by this conflict, began to sign treaties, show goodwill and remained in touch. There had been some hurdles that happened after the war, but it was a path to peace nonetheless.

Fukasaku had looked towards the night sky with a thought. Everything felt so quaint for now. Like a quiet and calming wind, everything started winding down. Even though the world was still reeling, things were looking better.

The old toad finally decided to go back to bed when he heard a knock on the other. One of the summoner frogs decided to drop by and disturb his routine. The geriatric toad felt aggravated at this as he asked the messenger.

"The Great Toad Sage has asked for your presence, Fukasaku-sama, Shima-sama!"

"What is it now?" The old toad asked rather grumpily. To his side, Shima had awoken from her sleep and rubbed her eyes. This late in the night and the old sage was asking for their presence? That old fogey got visions at the most inconvenient of times. Shima looked rather annoyed as well. Her sleep was terribly cut short with this interruption.

When the two elder toads made their way to the temple of the great toad sage, they looked at the wrinkly old giant toad that was sitting on a giant silk cushion wearing prayer beads around his neck that were the size of wrecking balls, and looking like he was still sleeping.

"Great toad sage, I bring you Fukasaku-sama and Shima-sama as you requested." The messenger bowed before leaving.

The great toad sage looked below in a slow manner and shakily opened his mouth. With its weary voice, it spoke.

"Ah… It's good that you're here… Eh, who are you again?"

Fukasaku gave a deep sigh and shook his head while he held it. "I'm too old for this."

"Can we not have a discussion that involves this coot's selective memory loss?" Shima voiced out and crossed her arms, still annoyed at the fact that her sleep was disturbed.

"I've been informed of our youngest sage's current situation. So I had you two come here and inform you about what I foresaw." The old sage mentioned and grabbed the gigantic crystal ball into its palm. He placed the thing at eye level and did his prophecy.

"I saw two moons crossing each other and the one on the left began to crumble before it rippled like a wave. When the two moons finally reached the opposite side, everything began to shake. Our youngest sage will be travelling, he'll scour different lands and he'll roam and meet different people. However, to the last moments of my vision, I saw him standing before an ancient city, ruins were there left and right and there was a deafening roar."

A moment of silence before the elder toad sage spoke once more, "And that's about it."

"To-chan, this is bad! Naruto-chan told us about what happened during the last battle! If the Juubi is awakened based from what the elder toad sage suggested…" Shima had screamed; this was indeed a terrible situation.

"… Naruto-chan will die." Fukasaku mentioned, the elder toad began to look down and began to think really hard.

"We need to find Naruto-chan and inform him of what's going to happen!" Shima mentioned while Fukasaku shook his head.

"We can't do that, the Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Reverse Summoning Technique) only works when one of us is at least in the world Naruto-chan is currently in. We've tried and tried but to no avail."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Shima asked, dread in her weary voice.

"Nothing, we're just going to have to trust on Naruto-chan to summon us back into that world. We'll inform all of the toads on what they need to know, right now it takes precedence that Naruto-chan be informed of the situation he's about to go in."

And with that, the elder toads left the temple. The urgency of the situation forced their tired and weary bones to go at an unbelievable pace.

* * *

Mahora Academy:

Weekends were always boring.

There was nothing to do but paperwork, insurmountable paperwork and training, unbelievably repetitious training. The blonde sighed. Sure, training was fun, but it felt like he was eating his favourite meal for the last fifteen years.

Which wasn't REALLY the case; he ate ramen frequently but not THAT frequent.

With a sigh, the blonde went back and began doodling once more with the seal he was designing to get back. Unbeknownst to Konohamaru, he was drawing a blank for now, almost like a terrible slump. The blonde gave another sigh and hit his head in the table.

"BOOOOORRRRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNGGG…" He said, dragging out that word for as long as his attention allowed.

Konohamaru, who had just finished his report, looked at his master with an annoyed expression and said, "Then do something to occupy your attention!"

"I can't! I've done my work just an hour ago, I've been thinking on what to do and I'm stuck with my seal for the last fifteen minutes! I need a change of pace, damn it!"

"Then go out and do something different!" Konohamaru shouted, sometimes his master, being the simple man that he is, couldn't come up with a simple answer to a simple question.

"But I don't know what to do outside, it's not like I'd go shopping, I might as well watch paint dry!" Naruto whined as he went to his bed and plopped in it face first.

"I don't even know what kind of recreation they do here."

"Why don't you ask Negi?" Konohamaru asked.

"Are you kidding me? That kid looks like he wouldn't know what to do in a city even if he was left on his own."

"He's ten. And you're one to talk since you don't even know what to do outside of training or work." Konohamaru mentioned with a deadpan reaction.

"Good point." Naruto admitted before looking up in the ceiling and complaining once more.

"Ah, I need to get out! I need to do something fun! Anything!"

Konohamaru simply sighed at this and grabbed a set of clothes from his closet and began to change.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm preparing to wherever you're going." Konohamaru replied as he began to change clothes.

Naruto shrugged. He grabbed his own casual wear and proceeded to change. After all, a nice change of pace was all that he needed for the day, maybe he can drag Negi and Kotaro with him for some male bonding moment.

Asuna and Konoka's dorm:

Asuna was pulling Negi's face like it was elastic clay. She felt like she needed to do so since she heard Negi talk too much about her towards his sister in the letter. When Negi felt like it, he could be a worse motor mouth than Asakura sometimes. This little kid, with that unintentionally big mouth of his, began blabbering about HER lacking traits to his sister who Asuna barely even knows!

"Negi! We need to talk!" A voice shouted from the window who knocked by the glass.

Asuna looked over at the boy who was waving at them with his right arm and wearing that toothy grin.

"Let me in and we'll discuss things over now!" The blonde boy said and Asuna let him in.

"You idiot! What if one of the girls saw you? They'll be asking questions about your identity!" Asuna yelled and was about to bonk him in the head for such a stupid mistake until Naruto gave a simple reply.

"Nah, they won't get me caught. I'm a ninja after all." Naruto then mimed his hands to a hand seal with a grin.

"What kind of ninja wears orange?"

"Well, what kind of ninja wears black? Where did you get that idea? From a manga?" Naruto rhetorically asked and Asuna scratched the back of her head at this.

"Wha-?" Asuna was obviously confused. Don't ninjas usually wear black to conceal themselves or something?

"Asuna, ninja wear normal clothes when they do a job. It makes infiltration that much easier. If I was wearing all black and was armed to the teeth, then I'd be way too obvious when I'm about to infiltrate something. It's that factor that scares the hell out of a lot of people. You could say I was hiding in plain sight."

Asuna scratched the back of her head at this and Naruto gave a sly grin at this, "Okay, since you're confused, think of yourself as a rich person, you've got all this money and somebody wants it all to himself, so the best solution is to get rid of you."

Asuna nodded vigorously as Naruto continued, "He hires some ninja to take you out. The ninja replaces many of your closest friends or sometimes they become your average gardeners, farmers, fishermen, whatever there is that you watch over. Basically, a ninja could be anyone from Negi to Konoka, your most mundane acquaintances up to your closest friends and you might still never know until…"

With a grim expression, Naruto slowly slid his thumb on his neck sideways and making a disrupting sound with his voice.

Asuna's eyes widened as Naruto fuelled her paranoia to unbelievable levels. She paled and shivered a little, the blonde teacher really knows how to trigger different emotions like that.

Just then, Naruto gave out a stifling laughter that he was trying to hold in.

"Hey! Don't scare me like that, blondie!" Asuna shouted while Naruto laughed even harder.

"Sorry, I was just messing with you. Though to be fair, we barely do any of that stuff anymore after the war." Naruto apologized sincerely at that and then looked back at Negi.

"Anyway Negi, I have to ask, since I've got nothing better to do right now and I'm kind of in a slump with my seals, I guess we should go out and have some…" Naruto stopped as he saw Negi talking over a piece of paper. Naruto was thinking that Negi was probably suffering from some sort of mental sickness until he remembered that this was a different world. The blonde simply rolled his eyes at this and felt like smacking his own forehead for almost forgetting the fact that this place was really different.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, obviously curious at the red head's current actions.

"I'm sending a letter for Nekane-one-chan. Which reminds me…" The red head gently tugged the blonde near the letter as Negi with all the joy and pride he had, introduced Naruto while it recorded.

"This is Naruto-nii-san, nee-chan. He's been teaching me a lot of things and has been helping me since we met. He's really cool like Nekane-onee-chan, though he can be really goofy at times; master said he reminds her of Otou-san a lot!" Negi said happily at that. While Naruto was a bit taken back by Negi's callous choice of words, he nonetheless grinned and ruffled the child's head all the while waving at the aforementioned letter that was being recorded.

Perhaps such a gesture would be nothing short of mundane to any other person, especially since Naruto would be about the closest thing as a big brother to Negi was. But to Asuna, they looked like a pair of siblings that get along just fine.

"Won't ane-san be surprised that you've been hanging around Naruto-aniki? I'm sure she'll find it quite a present too." The talking ermine suddenly popped from his shoulders while eyeing Naruto slightly.

"What are you looking at, Chamo?" Naruto asked, whenever that rat had a smile on his face, it was usually something perverted had entered into his mind.

"Nothing, nothing you should be concerned about, aniki." Chamo said as he turned back towards Negi.

"Anyway, what is it you wanted to talk about, Naruto-nii-san?" Negi asked.

"Well since Eva-chan decided to make this your rest day and I had nothing to do, I might as well take you from here and go around exploring some part of Tokyo."

Naruto then brought out different travel brochures that he managed to look up.

"T-This is kind of sudden, Naruto-nii." Negi mentioned as the blonde gave a huff.

"Real men always do things in a heartbeat, Negi! We're bound by the rules that as men, we are meant to search for that ever fleeting happiness! As men we are…"

"… Currently bored and have nothing better to do." Konohamaru had suddenly interrupted as he entered to the front door.

"Huh, I guess that explains it." Asuna raised her eyebrow at this and grinned. An idea formed in her head as it looked like it was one of her rare occasions to come up with something.

"Hey I know, maybe I should join…"

"Nope, sorry, guys only!" Naruto said, crossing out his arms in an x-like pattern. Asuna looked quite dejected on it. Konohamaru had to be the one to explain.

"You know, Kagurazaka, Naruto-nii may not elaborate on the idea but you need to be reminded as to why we're pulling Negi out of the sea of estrogen."

Asuna looked confused, what's estrogen? Konohamaru then sighed once more and then explained what he meant

"It means that we need to get Negi away from you girls at least once in a while. Do you really think that the shotacon club would leave Negi alone if one of them finds out a few girls were going out with us?" Konohamaru asked and Asuna got the point. If only those pesky girls would just leave them alone. It would be great if Negi lived with the guys instead of here, but then Naruto outright refused the idea. He reminded her that both of them cook if they really needed it and most of the time, eat over at Chao Bao Zi for breakfast or any other meal time. If they ate at home it would mostly be takeout or cup ramen.

Asuna shook her head at this. She knew the answer to that as if it was the biggest fact in the world.

Naruto nodded at this when he shoved Negi to the bedroom to get him changed with something more appropriate attire, preferably casual.

"That's right and I don't particularly trust Ayaka enough to leave Negi alone. So I'll be the one going upstairs and invite Kotaro." Naruto said as he strutted outside and headed upstairs. He stopped for a moment and said in an afterword to the people inside the dorm.

"Tell Negi to wait for Kotaro and me by the world tree, Konohamaru. Make sure you two aren't seen by any of the girls, you got that?"

With that, Naruto was off.

Konohamaru scratched the back of his head at this and sighed again. Leaving him alone like that without any more instructions on how to do it, the blonde was turning into Jiraiya more and more based from what Naruto told him about his time with the toad sage. Naruto was in one of his rare cases of training Konohamaru when he didn't even know it. So how do you get a kid out of the lion's den?

Once Negi came out, Konohamaru asked him a question, "Hey Negi, how do you feel about jumping from a window five storeys high?"

The answer was an utterly confused red head that was scratching the back of his head.

* * *

With Naruto:

'_Okay, Naruto, calm yourself. Just try to look at Kotaro or any other person that isn't the girl that has a glaring preference over little boys like Orochimaru. Focus. Don't try to imagine the snake freak being the embodiment of a hot teenaged girl.'_

But all that pep talk to himself brought more and more anxieties to his thoughts. By the time he was at the door, his hand that was about to knock was trembling and his shoulders were sagging as if his resolve was being sapped out by the leech at the back of his head that kept disturbing him.

"_Get back here; I'm not done lecturing you about proper table manners!"_

From inside the room, Naruto could hear the voice of the person he dreaded meeting upon eye contact. He had this really irrational fear of the girl, not because of what she could do (he doubted that Ayaka had the ability to summon snakes or turn herself into one), but because of what the girl's attitude is like when it concerns pre-pubescent boys.

"_Screw that! I'm off to find Naruto-nii and the others!"_

"_It's precisely this attitude why I would praise Negi-sensei as the better person than you are! And that mouth! Such foul language does not fit a boy your age!"_

"_Nyah, nyah!"_

As the scuffle inside became audibly clear by the door, Naruto took a deep breath and reached in once more at the door knob.

And the object smacked directly on his face sending him crashing to the opposite wall.

"Ow." Naruto said as he held his nose when it let out a small trickle of blood dripped down from his nostrils.

"Ah, Kinpatsu-nii, what are you doing here and why are you flat on the ground?" Kotaro asked curiously and Naruto grunted in pain. His regeneration instantly kicked in at that all the while he was reeling in from the pain.

"Kotaro, you little shit. You almost broke my nose with that door, goddamnit!" Naruto cursed as he reeled in from the pain and got up. The pain was throbbing on the bridge of his nose as the blood slowly trickled to a stop.

Ayaka and Chizuru went out after Kotaro and saw the blond painfully clutching his nose and asked for a tissue.

Chizuru went inside while Ayaka asked him.

"Ah, Naruto-sensei, what are you doing here?" She asked and Naruto answered with a grunting voice, "I was about to invite Kotaro for a day out today, since he's been spending his time with us ever since he joined here. You girls wouldn't mind if I borrow him for a day now, would you?"

Ayaka looked like she didn't mind at all while at the same time, held her nose up a little, "I would appreciate you taking Kotaro away from us for now, Naruto-sensei, please teach him some manners while you're at it."

Kotaro simply let out his tongue and gave a raspberry at the class president, who gave a raspberry of her own in return until the two began squabbling again to the point that Ayaka was pulling Kotaro's cheek while the boy was pulling on her hair.

"Freeloader!"

"Granny!"

"Uncouth boy!"

"Ugly girl!"

"Filthy mud puppy!"

"Shotacon!"

"You take that back!"

"Make me!"

As the two squabbled some more, Chizuru came out of the room with an exasperated sigh and sat down beside Naruto who was gracefully turning down Chizuru's help and insisting that he was okay doing it on his own.

Chizuru glared at him for a few seconds and Naruto immediately stopped. He felt as if hell just froze over with that stare. His spine tingled as the girl wordlessly grabbed his arm that was cradling his face and stuffed his nose with the paper towel on it. Blood trickled on the tissue while Naruto was forced to sit down and let the offending injury heal for a few minutes.

"There, now to clean the bloodstains on your shirt." Chizuru said with a smile and Naruto this time, outright refused.

"Oh no thanks, I can clean it when I get home, I'll just grab a spare and we'll be off!" He said in a hurry and a forced grin on his face. Sometimes Chizuru could give him quite the scare. He just couldn't tell if the girl was upset or she had her face on like that by default.

"You. Will. Let. Me. Wash. It." Her voice was now stern and commanding yet that unwavering smile was still present. Naruto instantly gulped and took of his shirt and instantly gave it to the woman. There was something about that smile that really freaked him out.

"E-Even Kinpatsu-nii is scared of Chizu-nee… She's really something." Kotaro mumbled and Naruto looked like he was awaiting Tsunade's punishment while sitting in the Hokage's office, where his back was aptly positioned towards the hospital just to the other side of town.

Ayaka had a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head and Natsumi was peeking from the door.

All four of them had one thing on their minds.

'_Chizu-nee/Chizuru is scary.'

* * *

_

A few minutes later:

Naruto and Kotaro made their way towards the world tree and were met with a dishevelled and slightly shaken Negi and Konohamaru who was idly waiting by the stairs.

"What took you guys?"

Naruto and Kotaro looked at each other and shivered.

"Don't ask." Both said at the same time and Naruto continued to elaborate.

"Because you won't understand what kind of terror we experienced back there."

Konohamaru raised his eyebrow at this then immediately noticed something and raised his eyebrow at it.

"Weren't you wearing a different shirt before?"

"Nevermind that, what happened to Negi?" Naruto quickly tried to change the subject while Konohamaru raised his eyebrow even further.

Alright, he'll bite whatever Naruto was telling for now.

Negi was the one to answer, "Please don't ask, Nii-san, I just realized how hard it is for you and Konohamaru-nii-san to hop all the time."

Naruto looked over at his apprentice and the brunette simply shrugged once more.

Fair enough he supposed. The fact that was undiscovered was a result he could deal with.

With that, they left the meeting place with Chamo in tow.

When they arrived at the train station, Naruto took out the brochures and leaflets he had gotten on the way to the dorm. There were at least four different brochures to choose from his person. Looking over each one, Naruto wanted to look over the different areas that Tokyo had to offer. He was finding an area where they all could enjoy themselves and seemed interested when he read out loud.

"Akihabara, huh? Sounds pretty tame for kids and adults alike, the technological and gaming hub of Tokyo? This looks like it will be fun!"

Akihabara:

"Who the hell said it would be fun in Akihabara?" Konohamaru shouted thoroughly as they exited the very first shop that they entered. A DVD shop and not just any DVD shop; it was a shop specifically for porn.

He didn't know just how the hell did four minors end up in the porn shop, must be because the security was lax. The damn cashier didn't even look at them and was reading his magazine!

Konohamaru's left eyebrow twitched.

"I-I never knew that a kunai can be used like that…" Kotaro said as he went out, wide eyed like Negi and both of them stared down. Negi, however, went to a full blown hysteric as Chamo and Naruto went out. The blonde was having a sheepish smile while the ermine was grinning from ear to ear.

"Chamo-kun! Please tell me magic isn't like that! Please tell me that they can't summon demons with multiple pee-pees and use them to attack girls in weird places!"

Chamo didn't know what to say at Negi. On one hand, he didn't want to lie to the boy and that most of the things he had seen in real life were close to that movie that they accidentally caught sight off. On the other hand, he felt like the wall of his own innocence was completely shattered and the boy was probably traumatized beyond recognition and would most likely remain a celibate for years to come. He didn't want that, no, Negi-aniki should be this really cool mage that had a lot of conquests! Sexual or otherwise!

"I-I don't really think that they have demons like that, aniki. If anything the demon world will always want to avoid them, even by THEIR standards, they'd consider someone who is constantly aroused weird and generally unpleasant to be around."

Konohamaru glared at Naruto who was sheepishly scratching the back of his head at this.

"Ah, sorry about that, kids. The title of the store threw me off there. When they said 'House of the Red Hot Devil' I thought they meant a haunted house or something."

"You try telling that to the two over there. They weren't ready to see that." Konohamaru then pointed to Negi and Kotaro who were simply shocked.

Chamo, who was by now perched on Naruto's shoulder, simply replied, "It's better for them, actually. Exposing them to the adult world is something that they had to face eventually."

Konohamaru's glare went from Naruto to Chamo as he said, "Traumatizing them isn't part of the exposure, you stupid rat."

"A harsh exposure to reality can do wonders."

"No, it doesn't." Both Naruto and Konohamaru said at the same time.

"Hey Kotaro, Negi, come here for a second." Naruto commanded the two children.

The two children looked at each other and then looked back at the blonde. Naruto motioned with his fingers with a 'come hither' like movement while squatting and the two obeyed. The blonde looked serious for a moment and said, "None of you two are going to tell this to the girls, you got that?"

"Tell what, Nii-san?"

"Good." Naruto promptly shooed the two confused boys and stood up as they went on their way once more.

As they made their way through the bustling streets of Akihabara, Naruto already started to complain.

"What the hell is wrong with this place? Gaming hub my ass! There isn't something here that would really warrant to games! All I see are a bunch of TV's tied to a couple of buttons and a very phallic stick at the side!"

"Kinpatsu-aniki, this is an arcade, don't tell me you've never been in one before!" Kotaro explained and Naruto shook his head while Konohamaru shrugged. Although he had been to these kinds of places before, he didn't get the idea of what was entertaining with a bunch of pixels with a few buttons and a stick that he had to admit, was a bit phallic even with the round red circle at the top.

Naruto pouted for the third time when Kotaro had literally stomped him after another round of Street Fighter IV. Negi was contented with watching the two play the game or more precisely, he was content with Kotaro beating the ever living snot out of Naruto.

"GODDAMNIT!"

The blonde smashed his head on the board for his fourth loss out of humiliation and frustration. Naruto cursed once more and looked to his side, his attention being grabbed when he saw a batting stadium just across the street.

He managed to slip by the kids recreations when he managed to get to the other side.

Curious, Naruto went over the area and looked at the people swinging the metal bat once he saw the ball was launched from a funnel that was at the other side. He heard the loud 'ping' of the ball smashing against the back and being sent hurtling at the other side.

"This looks like fun."

"Nine Hundred Yen for you to play at the pitch for an hour, kid. Are you going to play or not?" An old man said as he was reading his magazine. The blonde looked at the old man and shrugged, hey, it can't hurt if he tried, right?

Naruto then stepped on the mound and mimicked the man that he saw and how he held the bat. He held the steel bat perfectly erect and standing at a good distance from his shoulders. He sagged slightly low and saw the ball was fired immediately.

Naruto raised his left leg a little as the ball got closer and stepped forward slightly, with a gleam of his eye, he saw the opportunity to swing the bat and it hit the ball perfectly.

With a loud ping, Naruto sent the ball flying to the other side of the mound and watched in awe.

He grinned at this.

Thirty minutes later:

After thirty minutes of non-stop playing at the arcade and subsequently getting tired of it, the trio exited the arcade, wondering where Naruto went. A gathering at the other side of the road caught their attention as they all looked on in curiosity.

Once they got to the other side, Konohamaru asked one of the men what was going on.

"Some guy just managed to break the record of fifty straight swings without even missing a single ball from the pitch! Is he Kyojin's secret weapon for the cup at spring? Holy shit, man, he's got to be! That kind of batting average is too good not to pass up!"

Ping!

Another loud smash of the ball and the bat, and the crowd looked on in amazement.

"That guy's batting average is still one hundred percent! And it's in his fifty-fifth one!"

The trio managed to slink their way to the crowd and saw that Naruto just managed to smash another ball for another homerun.

"AHAHAHAHAHA! This is no challenge for the great Uzumaki Naruto-sama! Now, gaze and marvel at which he dominates the world of baseball with his mighty swing!"

Ping!

Another smash of the ball against his steel bat was heard as the ball this time, travelled at seemingly inhuman speed and against the laws of physics, bounced at the upper wall of the mound and then exited through a small window at the top.

Outside the batting arena, the ball that disobeyed the laws of Physics, bounced once more denting a Honda Interceptor motorcycle bouncing once more and finally, said ball slammed into the face of a man that was wearing a white overcoat.

"A-Aniki!" One of the people outside yelled as the man fell down on the ground with his subordinates scrambling towards him due to the shock of baseball hitting his face.

The people inside the dome all looked at each other before scrambling out of the scene. Obviously, Naruto had just hit a fucking Kuzoku! All the while, the blonde was never the wiser and still kept swinging that bat.

"Oi! The bastard that smashed this ball outside! Come out of there before we drag your sorry carcass out here!"

"Aniki got smashed in the face! We ain't going to let this stand!"

"We were supposed to go to a Nana Mizuki concert, damn it! Now look what happened! Who's the punk that did this?"

"Aniki! Aniki! Get a hold of yourself!"

"A-ahhh… I hear Mizuki-chan's beautiful voice; it's leading me into the light!" The man that was to be considered their leader had his hand reaching upwards as if trying to grab hold of something.

"Aniki, Mizuki-chan hasn't sung Fiat Lux yet! Don't go into the light!"

"ANIKI!" Every member of the gang said in response in seeing their bro crumple down like a sack of potatoes. One of them had a bright idea to slap him in the face to drive him out of his funk.

SLAP!

"Ow! What the fuck?"

It worked.

Konohamaru had to suppress a chuckle seeing the event that took place in that moment. The antics of these men were almost as hilarious as the students of Mahora often were.

"Who's the wise guy that smashed this ball on my face, huh?" The man got up and wobbled to where he stood.

Naruto wasn't even caring.

"Oi! You! The dumb gaijin that's swinging like a freakin' gaywad! You got some apologizing to do!"

The man then went on a heartfelt and passionate speech about ho they didn't want to come to Akihabara in the first place but since someone named Nana Mizuki was performing, whoever she was, they had to come here in order to cheer her on. It wasn't as if they were complete delinquents whose only passion revolved around banging heads and breaking them, they all had one form of passion that didn't involve being a Kuzoku!

Naruto, who had finally ended his batting spree, looked curiously at the men that were glaring at him with intimidation.

"What are you guys taking about?" He asked, finally paying attention to the frustrated and obviously angered Kuzoku.

Negi, Konohamaru and Kotaro all watched incredulously at the audacity of Naruto's sheer ignorance of the group.

The leader of the gang was seething with anger and ground his teeth out of said frustration, "You asshole! You want to die that badly? You've got a lot of nerve ignoring me and our passion for Mizuki-chan!"

Mizuki-chan?

Naruto, who grew bewildered by the second, asked the man, "Who's Mizuki-chan?"

It better not be a gender bent Mizuki who had the guts to screw him over since he was a kid. At least he hoped not! There were thoughts better left alone!

The men all stood at him agape at that, this gaijin didn't know the wonderful, beautiful, pretty and super Kawai Mizuki-chan?

Blasphemy!

Such a poor soul to have never realized her beauty of such a person! It was an insult! A tragedy of unknown proportions!

"You don't know who Mizuki-chan is? You really are a gaijin!"

Of course, given Naruto and Konohamaru's origin, they wouldn't know who this Mizuki person was and why these people were so strongly inclined to worship her. Negi could be forgiven that he was still in the country, so that leaves Kotaro without any form of excuse about not knowing this person if she really were that great.

The trio looked at the dog demon and he shrugged. Obviously, Kotaro didn't know in the slightest just who the person was. The boy had almost the same social skills as the three of them had when it came to this place.

"I can't believe this! These guys don't know Mizuki-chan!"

"What's so important about this 'Mizuki-chan'?" Naruto asked from out of nowhere and the leader who had a horrible perm haircut glared at him and bore his teeth.

"You're speakin' like the devil there, gaijin. One more word of that blasphemy and I'll plant your teeth to the ground!"

Naruto raised his eyebrow at this, not obviously threatened. Of course he wouldn't be intimidated, he's had worse people glare him at the eye and he lived to tell the tale. He wasn't about to back down from such a silly and feeble attempt of intimidation.

"Ain't you scared, kid? Aniki just threatened to tenderize your face and turn it into meat!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow while Konohamaru gave a simple comment.

"Naruto-nii was never one to back down from a fight."

The leader turned back to Naruto with that beady eyes of his and glared at the blonde while his left brow was twitching, as if forcing the blonde to yield.

As expected, the leader instantly broke at this and Naruto simply grinned.

"Negi, Kotaro, remember this little rule about fighting."

Naruto ducked as the man punched and extended his arm, Naruto countered by a simple uppercut that sent the man stumbling back and reeling.

"Never let anyone intimidate you." Naruto said as he motioned for the person with a haughty gesture to come to him.

With another punch Naruto simply ducked and immediately countered with a straight kick to the abdomen, this time, sending the man flying a few meters back.

"Are you going to keep this up all day? You're actually making me worse, man." Naruto said as he had his hands on the back of his head while walking towards them with that ever mischievous grin.

"So who's up for a can of Naruto whoop ass?"

Every single one of them paled.

Fifteen minutes later:

If there were words to describe what had happened during those almost uneventful but repetitive minutes, it would be such a word that would tell it best rather than fifteen-minutes-of-bodies-flying-everywhere.

Naruto went outside, shoving the bruised and battered bodies of each thug, goon, whatever they were by the front of the store. Slung on his shoulders was the leader who he slumped right next to his followers.

The leader visibly flinched from the pain as he was lumped right next to his men while Naruto clapped his hands as if he just finished cleaning the house.

"That's some fighting style you got there, gaijin. Who taught you to fight like that?"

Naruto simply answered, "I was self-taught."

"P-Pretty good. Now we can't come to Mizuki-chan's concert, do you have any idea how long we waited for that?" He said before grunting out in pain as Naruto squatted down and met with the leader at eye level before and said, "Okay, first off, I don't get who the hell this Mizuki-chan is. Second, is she really that great?"

It was then that the man began talking passionately about this person. It was interesting at first, but Naruto was quickly growing bored out of it, and he thought the man was just some dude with a huge crush on an idol that was possibly younger than him.

"If I had to describe her performances, it's like…" To this he began to tear up and choke.

"… I just can't describe it! It's just something you have to experience and watch for yourself!" To this he cried. Naruto looked unsure. It had been a while since he had seen a grown man gave the water works. But this was the first time someone cried albeit for a different reason.

"But now all of us can't even get to the concert! Not like this!"

The man then proceeded to bawl his eyes out at this.

Naruto had to feel sorry for the guy even if slightly. The fact that the man was crying like a baby was making him feel like a heel.

"Alright, alright, geez! I'll help you sorry lot!" Naruto relented as he gave a big sigh. Who was the bad guy here, again?

"Don't put your pity on me, you fucking Gaijin! I don't need it! I have my pride as a gangster!"

Naruto gave a sigh at this. Of course, he too was a prideful man. He knew how much it hurt him when people took pity on him. It was just insulting. He didn't need pity. Pity was a word used by people who decide to do nothing in face of someone's despair. So he could understand what was going through this guy's mind, even if it was kind of stupid.

"Look, I'm helping you guys to go over to this concert just because I hate seeing grown men cry. You think I'd pity you just because you got battered by me? Oh hell, man, I don't mean to be an ass or anything, but I've had much worse than that." Naruto mentioned this as the kids began helping them.

"Why would you help us, then, gaijin?"

Although it was silly for them to take state such claims that put their object of desire to a pedestal, he could somewhat understand them. Devotion was an admirable but sometimes a weird trait. Perhaps it would be better if it were called as loyalty or some form of piety to the people that profoundly wave themselves at hand and foot towards this person.

"We're men. We're naturally romanced at the idea of looking for that thing that will make us happy. It's an idea that my sensei taught me, 'To search for happiness is to collect it on the road to get there, sometimes we may never reach it, but the road is always worth it.' Pride is just a part of that road, something that you get after suffering so many trials when you walked that path and every time it happens, we can always hold our heads high because of it. So I can understand why you want to do these things, it's your passion. We all have them, and as men, we are inclined to understand that, if not through words, then through fists."

Naruto swung his arm forward hands clenched into a fist to emphasize his point.

The blonde then grinned.

"Don't worry. We'll get your feelings through to this concert no matter what!"

This time, the men welled up in tears as they looked at the boy, no older than seventeen, helping them at their most needed quest.

"Aniki! I-I don't know why, but I suddenly feel like I was so moved! I feel like I've wasted my youth all this time!" One of the men shouted and Naruto grinned.

"Gag. I think I'm going to be sick." Konohamaru mentioned as they helped these sorry excuses to their motorcycles while Naruto did the same to their leader.

Two Hours later:

Arriving at the stadium with their loud bikes, the gang of delinquents plus the quartet from Mahora set out from their machines while the leader was panicking.

"Damn it! We're out of time! We need to prepare all our equipment! And with us injured like this, we won't be able to finish all of it!"

"Well, well, well, if it isn't that detestable group from Osaka." The boss of the group turned around to see a bespectacled man wearing a blue Kimono and grey Hakama, a white bandana wrapped around his forehead emblazoned with a pink heart and the characters for Mizuki. His arms were crossed as he gave an obnoxious smug from his lips. Naruto and the trio watched in interest at this sudden predicament. The leader from their side grinned as well.

"Uesugi, you bastard, I see your group of little shits is here as well. I would have thought that the bridge that you dwelled under would have collapsed and killed you."

The one known as Uesugi simply grinned even further, "And I thought you and your deplorable group of miscreants died in a fire. Why is reality so cruel to me?"

The self deprecating statement just seemed to piss the biker off even more, "Just you wait, Uesugi, our group won't lose to you this time. Bet your club on it, you damn stalker!"

"A pot calling the kettle black, Takeda. We, who have such passion to the goddess, Nana Mizuki-sama, will bet our lives on the line for this event! Just like the Tiger of Kai and the Hero of Echigo faced during the Sengoku era with the same names, we will put this heated rivalry to rest! And just the same, the Takeda shall fall first before I will." Uesugi pointed to the leader now known as Takeda while the man stood unfazed and under such hostilities, showed the look of a fierce tiger.

Naruto looked at both sides and shrugged.

They were taking this seriously?

Some other part of the city:

"We had to go to Akihabara just to get to this concert?" Misa asked.

Although she never hated Akihabara, somehow, it always manages to scare her out of her wits just because of the atmosphere at times. But this little part of the city seemed tame compared to other parts of Tokyo, she mused.

"We have to! We need to get ideas on what to play for the festival!" Sakurako insisted. Indeed, they were trying to get ideas for their concert. But this seemed something not meant for their type of music.

"But, I don't get it, why are we going to Nana Mizuki's concert when our genre is completely different?" Madoka asked that one.

Sakurako turned back to them and held out a small poster and pointed to the fine print.

"Look at the performers BEFORE Mizuki-chan!"

The three girls had their eyes widened in realization.

"No way, Shoujo S is going to perform?" Misa exclaimed after grabbing the poster and almost crumpling it with her hands.

"That's right, maybe then we can cover one of their songs and while we're at it, get their autographs as well!" Sakurako grinned.

"So we only came here to see Shoujo S and not Nana Mizuki?" Madoka asked and Sakurako shook her head.

"Of course not! I'm a fan of her songs as well! So it's only fair that Shoujo S was the ticket I needed for us to come here!" Sakurako said in full admission. The three girls could only sigh in exasperation.

Once they got to the stadium, they immediately noticed three familiar faces in the crowd.

"Ah, Naruto-sensei! Negi-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei too!" Madoka suddenly pointed to the three that were currently helping the group that looked like Kuzoku members setting up banners and flags and such.

The quartet, turned around and saw the three four girls heading at their way while the rest of the gang members looked at the four with wide eyes.

"SENSEI?" They all said incredulously and at the same time.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, obviously embarrassed.

"Well, you see, the three of us teach at this all-girls school and we really ARE teachers."

"BUT YOU'RE NOT EVEN OLDER THAN US!" One of the men shouted

"Well, we're pretty advance for our age group so…" Naruto was about to finish when Sakurako cut him off.

"Don't tell me you're a big fan of Nana Mizuki too, sensei!"

"I keep telling people that I don't know who Nana Mizuki is! I'm just helping these guys out since I kind of messed up their schedule." Naruto insisted while many of the people around them gasped and looked at Naruto as if he committed some sort of heinous crime

"Hmph. Even you have to rely on help from some simpleton who has never heard of Mizuki-chan? Takeda, face it. Your group has never stood a chance against ours from the beginning. You will never amount to anything like that blonde plebeian." Uesugi snobbishly raised his nose and looked down on the group and the blonde had one thing to say.

"You know, I feel like tearing his face off for some reason. Would any of you care to stop me?" Naruto reeled his right sleeve back but Takeda stopped him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-bozu, but don't. This fight is to determine who the best group is. We're going to settle this fair and square like how samurai do it."

"You're not awfully leaving me convinced there, Takeda. But I guess I can let it slide. You'll fight for your honour, right? I'll leave it to you then." With that, Naruto turned back from the group and began helping the others.

Ever the pompous man, Uesugi gave an obnoxious smirk while Naruto's back was turned.

"As if you ever did stand a chance against us, let me show you why your primitive way of cheering for the great goddess is futile."

With that, a rather large truck stopped just behind him and his group and soon began unpacking all sorts of equipment. Computers, search lights, projectors, everything a small studio would ever need.

"You see, being the son of a company executive, I get the privilege to buy the best equipment for uplifting the spirit of our goddess."

"Woah, this guy seriously has a few screws loose." Kotaro mentioned backing away slightly as the sight of the mumbling man who then began laughing maniacally all the while watching his club members set up their equipment outside the stadium.

It was then that Naruto's smirk turned devilish once more.

Seeing the equipment being set up, Naruto couldn't help but come up with a diabolical plan set up from his pranking days. This idiot had the gall to let the other team see the equipment being set up. Naruto thought it was very stupid of this jackass to do something like this, giving him the perfect target and in perfect line of sight.

Naruto went for his back pocket and grabbed a small scroll as he called out to the half-dog demon.

"Kotaro, you want to learn the trick on smashing that rock to bits, right?"

Konohamaru immediately recognized that tone of voice from Naruto and immediately concluded somebody was going to be angry, frustrated, humiliated or all three put together.

It wouldn't end well with Uesugi's group at all and seeing Kotaro's sudden interest in what Naruto had manipulated the boy in.

"Consider this your stealth training in Ninjutsu, Kotaro. If you can pull this off, I'll tell you a little secret about that drill I wanted you to master."

Kotaro nodded vehemently and Naruto handed him a glass bottle.

"Inside that bottle is the most potent alcoholic beverage that I managed to steal from the dean just a few days ago, it's called _Onigoroshi_, with one sip of this thing, consider yourself blacking out and doing whatever the hell you feel like doing, it's said this baby has been banned in ALL of Japan except in Okinawa or wherever that place is. What I need you to do is…" Naruto began telling Kotaro the much needed instructions all the while, the boy looked rather uneasy while Naruto provided him with the necessary equipment.

"Isn't that unfair, aniki? I mean the gangster nii-san wanted to win fair and square."

Naruto stopped midway in his instructions when he lightly hit Kotaro on the forehead.

"Kotaro, you're a ninja, you aren't a samurai. You do things differently, they do things differently. While they do that Bushido thing, we do our own. Don't think of this as cheating, think of this as assurance that we win because that Uesugi bastard just pisses me off the wrong way. Now, of you go little ninja." Naruto gestured for Kotaro to do the deed. The dog boy looked at Naruto unsurely and then looked back at Negi and Konohamaru. Negi looked unsure himself while Konohamaru had no qualms about the whole thing.

"Aren't you or any of the girls going to stop me?"

"No. Because like it or not, this is what Naruto-nii had in store for you as an exam. Think of this as one of your initiation rights." Konohamaru mentioned this while his hands were at the back of his head. He had long given up in telling Naruto otherwise. The blonde was just as stubborn as an ox most of the time and unknowingly can be a bad influence to others. He confronted Naruto with this in mind back then, to which the blonde merely replied with a flat "What?"

"If it's a consolation for you, Kotaro-kun, Naruto just wants to test you how far you can go, so do your best?" Negi had said that rather unsurely and voiced out rather weakly that he was condoning Kotaro to cheat.

"I can't believe this, and I happen to be a teacher as well…" Negi mentioned this while Naruto laughed out loud at that statement.

While Kotaro was on his way to sabotage/gain an assurance to victory without Takeda's consent, Naruto and the others began helping Takeda's group with the banners.

Naruto was doing the characters for the flags while Konohamaru was tying them to the poles. Negi was the one who was shearing different cloths to make for flags and the girls were handing out drinks.

"Woah, that's some pretty fine calligraphy skills you have there, Naruto-bozu!" One of the members said as he marvelled at Naruto's penmanship. Naruto scratched the back of his head at this and grinned, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Thanks. My writing skills have come a long way since I was twelve." Naruto mentioned as he finished another flag while the gang members were looking dumbfounded.

"Why are you saying that, Naruto-aniki? Someone like you would have an enormous amount of talent to become this good!" One of them shouted and Naruto shook his head.

"Not really, when I was twelve I was the deadlast of my class. I had poor grades; I snuck out of classes, slept in class, cut classes, and caused pranks. I had poor handwriting skills, I always mistook kanji letters when I read signs, and I failed all of my exams because I was an idiot. The only reason I passed is because I assaulted a teacher."

They all stared at him incredulously and had their jaws hitting the floor as Naruto continued to stroke his hand through the clean white linen.

"Just what kind of person was Naruto-sensei when he was younger?" Madoka mused while the others thought of the same thing as well.

Negi was about to finish shearing the last fabric when a member from Takeda's squad asked him.

"So you're a teacher, Negi-bozu?"

Negi's attention turned to the man who was helping him with the fabric and he nodded with a smile.

"Yes, I teach English for my class, Naruto-nii-san teaches Japanese and Konohamaru-nii-san is our physical education teacher."

The man whistled at this and said, "Wow, you're still that young and you're already teaching. You know I went to school once, and I met this really lousy teacher during my high school years."

"Really? How was he lousy?"

"He called me a degenerate, a no good hoodlum without a future and a waste of space."

"So what did you do?" Negi asked, not liking where this was going.

"I beat him up. My parents never called me worthless, I always helped them run the family book store and help kids out whenever they can't reach the higher shelves that have their desired books. I can't help it if I couldn't study for exams if my dad was ill. I wouldn't be able to pay for my tuition. So when that teacher told me those things, I got so angry that I smashed a chair on his head." The man said while Negi was sweating bullets.

"O-Oh… I guess that teacher deserved that beating."

By the time they were done, the concert was about to start and a huge line was already forming by the entrance.

"Prepare to kiss my sandals Takeda. You will see in a moment just what my superior resources can do." Uesugi smugly extended his foot slightly to emphasize his point, Takeda simply kept quiet. He was still reeling from what Naruto had done to him earlier.

"Aniki, aren't you supposed to make a comeback or something?" One of his men asked, the leader simply kept quiet.

"Don't listen to him, Takeda. It's not worth listening to a shut in that doesn't have any friends." Naruto mentioned this and Uesugi looked like the word stung him.

This time, the ones close to Naruto looked at the blonde and goaded them, "Ooohhh."

"Nice burn, blondie."

"Ouch."

"OH SNAP!"

Uesugi simply scowled at the blonde with a silent fury but turned his back from the group.

It was then that Kotaro managed to show up still looking unsure of what he did earlier.

Finally, when they were inside, all of the people, minus Naruto, Negi, Kotaro and Konohamaru, waited in anticipation as the concert was about to start. Naruto was more interested in where his prank was going to go. He looked to the side where that bastard Uesugi was smugly crossing his arms and staring at them as if the match was already decided. To his side, Takeda was already screaming like a mad raving lunatic while waving his flag.

Naruto had to admit though, seeing the group like that was making him chuckle at their silliness.

"Beautiful, beautiful Mizuki-chan! Lovely, lovely Mizuki-chan!" Takeda shouted. Konohamaru, Negi and Kotaro simply walked away from their side as they said in unison, "We don't know this man."

When the concert did begin, everybody was in uproar as Shoujo S performed first before the main event. The cheerleading trio and Ako looked in excitement as the all girls band finally began playing one of their most famous songs, _Scandal._

Misa couldn't help but go along with the song.

_I guess I'm trying to say thank you?_

_I only let a little bit of honesty show through,_

_As the days wind down, trying to blame someone else is running away._

_Anyways, I'm sorry goodbye._

Naruto had to admit though, the beat was good, and the instruments fit perfectly with the sound. The song was really, REALLY good.

_I want to hold you when you're gone, I'm selfish like that._

_(Never gonna let it go, never gonna give it up)_

_I want to know what love and friendship mean._

_(I don't dig why it's so vague)_

_Someday you'll burst the lock on my heart_

It was then that the melody of the song grew up a notch, to match the ascending tone of the electric guitar and Naruto was looking perfectly absorbed into the song by now and the girls were already singing along with the band.

_I want to hold you when you're gone, I'm selfish like that._

_(Never gonna let it go, never gonna give it up)_

_I want to know what love and friendship mean._

_(I don't dig why it's so vague)_

_The door to my heart is closed up tight waiting for you to knock._

_And I don't need anything else._

_I want to believe in tomorrow._

When the song ended, many of the people inside the stadium applauded and yelled in praise of the band. As they exited the stage, many of the audiences were cheering and whistling as they waited for the main performance.

Just then, everything became dark, pitch black as a starless night. A rather loud hissing sound escaped throughout the stage and a choir voice began wailing in their low voices and a solemn but benevolent tune escaped from the organ while a church bell rang once.

_Ne perdatis Luces…_

"Hey, that's Latin! Someone's singing the language of enchantment!" Negi exclaimed and the three boys looked at Negi who was now listening attentively.

_Cantum Sanctum Nunc Accipete_

_Oro, Canto, Bovis_

_Fiat Lux ah!_

"W-wow, that's a great voice, even though I couldn't understand that language, it's really beautiful." Naruto mentioned in astonishment and to his side, Takeda and his group were crying as they had their arm over their eyes.

_Spes ne Perdatis!_

_Cantum Lucum Nunc Accipete_

_Dono, Animam, Mea._

_Fiat Lux ah!_

"Oi, quit crying, ladies! You're just going to let the waterworks take over your sorry asses? Raise your flags and throw all of your passion! Be men and show all of your love!" Naruto scolded the men and they stared at Naruto for a few seconds in silence when Takeda decided to take action.

"MIZUKI-CHAN!" Takeda shouted as he waved his flag in utmost fervour as if he was going to war.

Seeing this, the gang members all raised their flags and waved them as well, moved by their leader's fighting spirit.

Misa had a bead of sweat at the back of her head at this as she asked the seemingly normal people around him, "Is this the Olympics or something?"

"It might as well be." Madoka added helpfully watching the grown men wave their flags and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Talk about being hotblooded for a cheering squad, there isn't even any money involved!" Shiina exclaimed watching the spectacle unfold.

To the other side of the stadium, Uesugi had trouble communicating with his club that was stationed outside.

"THOSE IDIOTS! WHY ISN'T THE SEARCH LIGHT WITH MIZUKI-SAMA'S NAME NOT SHOWING?"

He had tried communicating with one of the members through a cell phone but that didn't work, they wouldn't pick up! Those bumbling morons better not have watched the concert from the large monitor that was stationed outside!

Grumbling in annoyance, Uesugi exited the stadium just as the idol was singing Eternal Blaze which was a sin in itself! He would not let this humiliation stand!

Once he was outside, he saw his members being hauled away by the police, with some knocked out while some were buck naked. He didn't know why, but when he was about to approach one of the police officers, he was suddenly confronted by a man in a brown trench coat and was asked, "Are you Uesugi Makoto?"

The bespectacled man simply nodded while the inspector held out a pair of handcuffs.

"I'm Inspector Zenigata and you're under arrest for felony charges on stowing and distributing a banned substance in an inappropriate zone. Please hold out your hand and we will discuss these matters down at headquarters."

With that, the inspector placed the handcuffs on the fan boy's wrist that

"W-Wait a minute! I don't know what you're talking about! I don't even buy any liquor!"

"Save it for the interrogation, kid. You should know that Onigoroshi is banned in Tokyo because of the potency of the stuff."

"O-Onigoroshi? This is madness! My goddess waits inside the stadium for our most heart warming support! This is not my doing! I've been framed!" Uesugi kept screaming his head off as he was shoved into the police cruiser.

"That's what they all say, kid, now off we go." Said the Zenigata and signalled for his subordinates to move out.

Inside, Naruto suddenly had the urge to smile wickedly.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Konohamaru asked while Naruto simply shook it off.

"Nothing, it's just that I felt something go right about this whole trip."

"Hah! I bet that bastard Uesugi felt our passion and crawled back beneath the bridge he lives in!" Takeda shouted as he waved his flag continuously.

"Wow, you really are taking this seriously." Naruto said as Takeda laughed as hard as he can until the very end of the concert.

* * *

Several hours later:

It was late in the night when they arrived at Mahora, Naruto and Konohamaru were carrying both Negi and Kotaro who had fallen asleep when they were riding the train. They looked absolutely tired while the girls were talking about what to play for the festival.

"What festival are you talking about, girls?" Konohamaru asked making their way towards the dorms.

"We were talking about the Mahora Festival! We'll be performing as a band before the special guest singer does!" Shiina explained with a lot of enthusiasm and Naruto asked them, "Oh you mean like what Shoujo S were doing?"

They all nodded.

"Heh, I guess we'll just have to watch our students for support then, eh, Naruto-nii?" Konohamaru asked and Naruto agreed.

"Yeah, I bet whatever you're going to sing would be awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as they finally made it to the right floor. The four girls looked unsure at that but Ako somewhat blushed.

"First stop, Ayaka's room." Naruto muttered and knocked on the door, carrying with him, a sleeping Kotaro that was still for most of the trip.

"Ara, Naruto-sensei, you and Kotaro-kun are pretty late; might I know what you were up to the whole day?"

Naruto stopped and saw Chizuru standing by the hall with that smile on her face.

"We kind of got sidetracked during our day out, but it was mostly harmless, we got to go to a concert after helping out a bunch of fans. Sorry if we made you worry!" Naruto said and Chizuru slid her shoulders a little as relief soon washed over her. At least Naruto was sincere about that apology.

"Oh, if that was the case then I wouldn't need an apology, Naruto-sensei." With that, Naruto placed Kotaro on the couch as Chizuru grabbed a blanket and placed it on Kotaro.

"Thank you for letting Kotaro spend the day with you."

With that, Chizuru gave Naruto a small peck on the cheek that the blonde suddenly had a look of surprise and embarrassment as a blush appeared on his face. Chizuru simply giggled at that while Naruto remained shock.

"I didn't know you could act so pure from time to time, Naruto-sensei. I didn't expect that from you." Chizuru teased while Naruto rigidly nodded and laughed in a rather stupid manner.

"Well, I'm not exactly a lady killer." Naruto admitted rather callously as he went out of the room, just before Chizuru closed the door, she said to Naruto, "That's what I like about you."

Naruto turned around and found the door now fully closed. Thinking that it was just his imagination, Naruto shrugged and grabbed a sleeping Negi who was carried by a drowsy Konohamaru.

"Konohamaru, you should get back to the apartment, I'll be taking Negi to Asuna's place."

The brunette yawned and nodded as he handed over Negi while Naruto went to Asuna's room.

After a knock on the door, a very much awake Asuna greeted him with no shouting. Which was weird because Asuna was one of the most vocal girls in the class, for her to be so benign at just eleven in the evening was quite a surprise.

"Something on your mind, Asuna?" Naruto asked as he placed Negi on bed and tucked him in.

"Nothing, it's just I haven't gotten any sleep as of now."

"Worried about Negi?"

"No because he has you. And although you can be pretty irresponsible, you're not stupid enough to leave Negi alone like that."

Naruto inwardly laughed as he pushed the thoughts of accidentally going to a porn shop to the back of his mind.

"So what seems to be the problem?"

Naruto said this as he opened the window and sat on the edge of the balcony. He looked up and saw that it was a full moon tonight. Asuna simply leaned on the edge.

"Naruto, have you ever had any vague memories of the past?" Asuna asked and Naruto shook his head

"No, but there are some things I wouldn't talk about unless it's called to reason. Sometimes, I just want to forget about it and bury it forever. I don't like bringing up bad memories but it's not like it goes away. So the only thing I do is try to be a better person everyday."

To this, Asuna looked down rather morosely as she said, "Before I was here in the academy, I had no memories of my past. I don't recall anything that happened. I don't know if it's just me being stupid or that there's something wrong with me."

Silence followed and Asuna asked Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, do you think it's selfish of me to know just what my memories are?"

Naruto quietly turned his head back at the full moon. Oh, so this was what Asuna was worried about.

Naruto knew that memories are precious. It's the moments that people share with other people that are forever ingrained in their minds. To a lot of people, memories validates one's existence, it validates that they are tangible that others communicate with.

"Yeah, it is pretty selfish of you." Naruto said this as Asuna somewhat frowned at that.

"But, I just want to learn about…" Asuna was about to shout when Naruto cut her off.

"It is pretty selfish of you, but isn't that what people are in the first place?" Naruto said this as he crossed his arms.

"I'm selfish too, Asuna. We all are. When I was a boy, the reason why I wanted to become Hokage was because I wanted people to validate my own existence. I was an orphan too, Asuna, I never knew my parents and I had no one supporting me as I grew up. I was alone and I hated everything about it." Naruto said this as Asuna remained silent.

She knew that many of Naruto's people hated him for some unknown reason. But she never knew what. As Naruto continued, a melancholic smile escaped his lips.

"But then as I grew up and became a ninja, I realized, day by day, that being Hokage for the sake of acknowledgement was a pretty shallow on my part. The Hokage was someone who leads the village, is respected because of his strength and will do anything to keep his village safe because a leader lives for the people that he cares. You can imagine just how I felt about becoming Hokage to the people that hated me."

"But I didn't stop, being Hokage was my only guiding light, it was all I have that would mean that I'm here where I matter. I built everything up for my dream. I'm still chasing it, you know. So you have every right to be selfish Asuna, you're human after all, we all are. It's just a matter of doing things differently."

By now, Asuna was smiling as she stared at the full moon like Naruto did, the blonde was now grinning as Asuna smiled, "Thanks for that, Naruto. I owe you a lot. Maybe now I can sleep."

Naruto gave a small chuckle and said to Asuna, "You don't owe me anything, Asuna. This is just how a sensei helps his students. But if you want to know what I would like from you…"

Naruto then pointed to Asuna's chest, at the very center straight to her heart.

"Just follow whatever your heart tells you." Naruto says this with a smile as a gentle wind blew forth that night and accentuated Naruto's whimsical looks before jumping from the balcony and vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

Asuna looked stunned for a moment before she gave a small smile, a small blush appearing on her cheeks before going back inside.

"Thanks… I'll remember it."

And with that, she tucked in for the night.

To be continued…

* * *

Here's a romaji of Scandal for those who don't know:

_Sankyuu made to iimiteru koto chigau ja nai?_

_Chotto dake sugao misette kere do._

_Dareka no sei ni shitte nigekae kure shiteru hibi, ate ni naranai wa_

_I'm sorry toriaezu sayonara._

_Anata ga inai toriai atteiru wagamama_

_(Zutto kienai you ni, kesenai you ni)_

_Ai to Yuujou shiritai koto wa nandemo_

_(Aimai suguto wakaranai yo)_

_Itsuka kokoro no kagi wo kowasu yo na_

_Anata ga inai toriai atteiru wagamama_

_(Zutto kienai you ni, kesenai you ni)_

_Ai to Yuujou shiritai koto wa nandemo_

_(Aimai suguto wakaranai yo)_

_Itsuka Kokoro no oku no doa wo kataku_

_Anata wo matteiru_

_Hokani wa nanimoiranai_

_Ashita mo shinjiteita_

That's basically the Romaji of the Bleach intro with the "Ichigo's angels" thing.

Here's the translation:

_I guess I'm trying to say thank you?_

_I only let a little bit of honesty show through,_

_As the days wind down, trying to blame someone else is running away._

_Anyways, I'm sorry goodbye._

_I want to hold you when you're gone, I'm selfish like that._

_(Never gonna let it go, never gonna give it up)_

_I want to know what love and friendship mean._

_(I don't dig why it's so vague)_

_Someday you'll burst the lock on my heart_

_I want to hold you when you're gone, I'm selfish like that._

_(Never gonna let it go, never gonna give it up)_

_I want to know what love and friendship mean._

_(I don't dig why it's so vague)_

_The door to my heart is closed up tight waiting for you to knock._

_And I don't need anything else._

_I want to believe in tomorrow.

* * *

_

And then Fiat Lux from Tales of Symphonia sung by Nana Mizuki:

_Ne perdatis Luces…_

_Cantum Sanctum Nunc Accipete_

_Oro, Canto, Bovis_

_Fiat Lux ah!_

_Spes ne Perdatis!_

_Cantum Lucum Nunc Accipete_

_Dono, Animam, Mea._

_Fiat Lux ah!_

The actual translation:

_Don't lose the lights  
Receive the holy song now  
I pray, I sing, that to you  
There may be light._

_Do not lose hope  
Receive the song of lights  
The gift of my soul  
Let there be light_

Well, that's about it more will come next chapter, which will hopefully be longer, see you all in December folks! I have a ton of stuff to do this month and in the next so I'll be on a month long hiatus (hopefully not).


	20. Wait, what?

Unwanted Traveling

Chapter Twenty: Wait, What?

* * *

To describe Naruto would be to describe many things, mainly an idiot, irresponsible, reckless, obnoxious, loud, stupidly strong, annoying, devious and somewhat lazy when it comes to paperwork are some of the things that would describe him at best. He was also easily approachable by any student, would listen to problems that many students face (though occasionally getting confused in some of their school related issues such as math and science), was usually friendly, cheerful, charismatically moving, and in the rarest of times, deep and insightful (Many would consider that final description of the blonde as terribly alluring). To the few students of 3-A, this was one of their most elusive events that so few of them weren't willing to share, mostly because Naruto unknowingly puts them all off guard once he does so.

Particularly, the three cheerleaders, Evangeline, Setsuna, Chizuru and even Asuna found themselves somewhat attracted to this side of Naruto. He was so childish yet so mature that Evangeline swore that he was a living contradiction, a collection of opposite attitudes compressed and formed into a human being. Something that could go either way or simply both at the same time; how he pulls it off, no one was sure. But it was clear that Uzumaki Naruto-sensei, Japanese teacher and all around goofball, was an enigma that many would consider as baffling as the cosmos itself.

"Is something the matter, Asuna-san?" Negi asked as he looked over at his student and roommate who looked out to the window of the train with a frown.

"Is it a boy?" Konoka asked rather playfully causing Asuna to blush.

"N-No, I'm not thinking about that, it's just that…" The orange haired girl denied vehemently as her blush deepened when she remembered Naruto touching her chest like that.

"Is it Takahata-sensei, again?"

"N-no! Not like that! It's something I've been thinking since last night!" Asuna reasoned out and Konoka began to look calculatingly at her.

Asuna shivered.

"Could it be that you've finally seen just how cute Negi-sensei can be?"

"NO, like I'll ever fall for a brat!"

Konoka still eyed the girl in a frown as she put a hand on her chin and began thinking. Finally, it hit her.

"Or was it because of something Naruto-sensei said?"

If Asuna were any redder, she'd look much like a tomato.

Konoka's smile turned mischievous.

'_Bingo.' _

"W-What are you talking about?" Asuna feigned ignorance but Konoka easily saw through it.

"Last night I snuck a glance when I thought you weren't still in bed, I was worried because you were sitting by the couch. I was about to go ask you what you were thinking when Naruto-sensei knocked." Konoka explained and Asuna suddenly grew pale at that.

"W-What exactly did you hear?" She asked and Konoka answered with a smile.

"Nothing, but after Naruto-sensei went home, you were having a sincere blush on your face. That is, only after he touched your chest."

By this time, many who were in the train, mostly girls who were hearing the conversation, blushed. But none could beat the blush escaping Asuna at that.

Setsuna coughed a little showing a blush of her own but closed her eyes as if it was a minor inconvenience.

"It isn't like that you pervs! He just pointed his finger here after I asked him for advice!" Asuna then mimed Naruto's gesture last night while pointing the middle of her chest.

"Ojou-sama, please try to be careful with your words, some people get the wrong idea…" Setsuna turned around and noticed the glare at some of the students that were in Naruto's class.

Setsuna sighed at this. Just great, many of these people were already infatuated with the blonde teacher as well. They didn't need to hear that.

Once they made it out of the train and near into the world tree, they immediately saw a small restaurant that was quite jam packed with people all over the academy. Realizing that this was Chao Bao Zi, Negi quickly looked for any of his students when he heard someone call him.

"Hey Negi, over here!" The voice called out, the red head turned around and the girls that were with him stood agape.

Over by the side were Naruto and Konohamaru, eating like a pack of rabid dogs famished after crossing the desert. To each of their sides were bowls, stacks and stacks of them laid cleanly to the side as they gobbled to what seemingly was the last dish that they were eating.

"Would you like another serving, Naruto-sensei?" Satsuki asked and Naruto nodded in between slurps of his ramen, the girl then turned to Konohamaru who gave a grunt as to affirm the suggestion after drinking some tea to help him swallow the Gyudon he was currently enjoying.

"Woah, they're pigging out and not even stopping… These two are monsters!" One of the students said as they watched the two eating. One of them suddenly turned green at watching the two boys and turned her head away.

"Why are you guys so hungry?" Asuna asked the two, Naruto dropped the bowl in his hand on the table and sighed as he said to the orange haired girl, "Well, we finished some really intensive workout earlier. I was helping Konohamaru with a new move he's been dying to do."

"That doesn't really explain how you guys are eating like a bunch of rabid hyenas." She said with a raised eyebrow and Naruto explained, "Well, in order to regain chakra that we've lost, we have to eat. The energy that we get from food travels to our body and becomes physical energy for chakra." Naruto explained and Konoka was hit with an epiphany.

"Eh, you mean instead of storing it as fat, it becomes the energy you need to do those techniques? That's really unfair! I wish I had that!" Konoka pouted while Naruto and Konohamaru had a bead of sweat at the back of their foreheads.

"Well, if you put it that way, sure. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that Chouji was always carrying a bag of chips whenever I saw him." Naruto mumbled as he recalled his robust companion.

"Wow, that chakra thing is really amazing, what else can you do with it?" Chamo asked as he appeared from Negi's collar, careful not to be seen nor heard.

"Well, aside from techniques, we can use chakra to stick to walls, walk on water, heal injuries, and move inanimate objects… You name it, chakra can probably do it." Naruto mentioned as he looked up while waiting for his order.

"You mean like Konohamaru-sensei's technique of hardening his own body to the point it's become as tough as steel? I would have thought such a biological conversion to an elemental one was impossible." Setsuna asked, and Naruto nodded, "Yep, you'd be surprised just how much more we can do with it."

Namely, bending time and space and altering reality if only for few brief seconds.

"Ah, there are my most favourite and best customers, ne!"

Naruto turned around and saw Chao who was walking over towards them as Satsuki presented their order.

As Naruto and Konohamaru began to dig in once more, Chao instantly beamed at them with that smile of hers as the duo started to finish their meal.

"So I hear you guys got into a lot of adventures yesterday, ne." Chao asked and pointed to Negi who nodded quite enthusiastically.

"Aside from the horrible start, we had a lot of fun yesterday with Naruto-nii taking us to a concert, albeit accidentally." Negi admitted. Asuna and the others looked really surprised at that.

"No fair! You actually got to go to a concert while we were stuck at home!" Asuna shouted and Naruto settled down his bowl to explain to Asuna, "Well to be fair, we really didn't mean to go to the concert but this group of Kuzoku were harping on about Nana Mizuki after something that they blamed me on which I have no idea what was about."

"Well, that's because you weren't listening when they talked about you hitting the leader with a baseball. It was nice of them to give their number though, they said if ever we're in a pinch give them a call." Konohamaru interjected as he settled his bowl down.

"Oh, so that's what it was. Huh? Makes you wonder what we would've done if I didn't hit the guy." Naruto finally said as he finished his meal while the rest of the girls were looking quite surprised at that.

"Y-You almost got yourselves killed for what you did!" Asuna shouted and Naruto waved it off.

"Please, the day those guys manage to kill me is the day I start giving up on ramen." Naruto simply scoffed and then went for his pocket to pay the bill.

"You promised fifty percent off right, Chao?" Naruto asked and the girl with bun hairstyle nodded. With that done, Naruto and the others stood up as he commented on Chao, "She's such a nice girl."

Asuna and the others had a bead of sweat at the back of their foreheads as they went towards the academy itself.

"Do you really have breakfast there everyday, Naruto-sensei?" Konoka asked, obviously curious, Naruto gave her a nod with a sheepish grin, "Yeah, if you hadn't noticed, Konohamaru and I suck at cooking so we always rely on either take out or instant meals."

"Wow, what an unhealthy lifestyle, I'm surprised you and Konohamaru-sensei are still standing for months." Setsuna commented while Naruto sheepishly laughed.

Once the girls separated, Naruto, Negi and Konohamaru made their way towards the faculty to get started in teaching. Naruto was halted however when Takahata gave him a folder.

"What's this?" Naruto asked, curious at the small folder Takahata gave him.

"Oh, some evaluation notes for the students to have, the Dean says that you just need to distribute them today in your classes, you don't have to teach them today and go to him directly once you're done." The man said with a smile while Naruto scratched his chin, "This isn't about that Onigoroshi thing, is it?"

Takahata looked curious for a moment before giving a small chuckle, his suspicions about it had been correct after all.

"Well, I don't know but the Dean said he needs you right away after you're done."

"But why give me an evaluation sheet?" Naruto asked as he scratched the back of his head at this.

"It's a reassurance just in case, or at least, that's what the dean said." With that, Takahata turned his back from the blonde who looked at the folder rather curiously and shrugged.

Oh well.

Once Naruto made his way around the classes he had to attend, he handed over the evaluation sheets with that smile of his. The students all looked sombre when they read the papers. They looked at the paper then back at Naruto who was still grinning.

Some of them started to cry.

When they filled out the evaluation sheet, they handed it over to the blonde rather reluctantly; one of the girls even outright hugged him and then sobbed.

"What the hell is wrong with all of you? It's not like I'm leaving all of you so soon!"

It was then that most of the class began crying and Naruto asked himself, "Was it something I said?"

The blonde then simply shrugged it off and went for the next class, all of them having the same reaction as the class before finally stopping at class 3-A.

"Geez, I swear everyone's been acting weird today."

Once he slid the door open, the sight of girls wearing maid costumes distracted him from his contemplation as he looked around. Though, compared to what reaction Negi had earlier, Naruto was a bit more flat.

"What are you girls wearing?" Naruto asked as he scratched his cheek while looking around. He barely even noticed Akira in a bunny suit.

"I can't believe it, not even a flush of embarrassment from Naruto-sensei!"

"As expected of a boy with experience."

"Hey, hey, what kind of experience are you talking about?"

"THAT JUST MEANS OUR OPPONENT IS JUST THAT GOOD!" Kazumi Asakura declared as she and Yuna began taking command and pointed to some more girls.

Naruto watched in mild interest as the girls were suddenly shoved to the dressing room while Naruto was forced to sit besides Negi.

It was then that the girls came out wearing quite skimpy suits, perhaps skimpier than earlier that Naruto finally took notice of it.

Mana was wearing the shrine maiden's kimono with the Hakama turned into a skirt reaching just above her knees that Naruto looked impressed and clapped.

"Oohh, that's pretty good." The blonde said in a clap as Mana then turned to Kaede and gave that haughty smirk.

Naruto looked around Mana for a while and nodded quite sagely.

"Yep, you remind me a lot about a priestess I met before."

To this, the girls were listening quite closely and Naruto grinned.

"Anyway, I'm in a hurry because the dean was asking for me and he wanted me to hand over some evaluation papers to the classes I'm teaching."

Hasegawa Chisame stopped and narrowed her eyes at the folder Naruto was carrying in his person. It was impossible for this kind of time in the school year to hand over evaluation sheets. Those things were reserved near the end of the term and it hasn't been halfway yet. Naruto seemed like he was the only person to carry one as well.

The blonde then grabbed a piece of paper and began handing out the evaluation forms towards the girls who were somehow looking unsure.

When she received her copy of the evaluation sheet, then it confirmed her suspicions. She looked at her sides and noticed some of the girls were already looking worried. Shiina was ready to cry and so did Madoka.

The bespectacled girl looked back to the blonde and scowled. Something was definitely not right here.

_Based on the performance given by the teacher who handed out this form, grade it from one to ten with one being the worst and ten at best._

A question better reserved for the last few days of the school year, yet it looked like Naruto's year was cut short.

There could only be one thing to say to that.

Naruto was leaving.

"Sensei!"

Someone finally cracked (Shiina), and started sobbing when someone read the final question.

_Please leave any comment for the teacher in question and suggestions for improvement. Any comment placed here will be evaluated by the school dean or any other person qualified to oversee the teacher's overall performance inside or outside Mahora Academy._

"What? You guys look like something in you just died." Naruto callously joked with a smile and many of the girls looked at the blonde in sadness.

How right he was.

"He's not aware of it, is he?" Chisame asked rather rhetorically.

When Naruto was about done for Class 3-A, he waved a small goodbye to the girls before disappearing, aggravating the situation more.

"W-What did Naruto-sensei do anyway that he has to leave?" One of the girls shouted.

"We should find out just what it is that is making Naruto-sensei leave!" Shiina shouted and most of the class actually affirmed the idea.

"We'll go to the principal and vote that we aren't going to stand for this! Naruto-sensei has to stay!" Shiina mentioned.

"You're accosting his freedom, you idiots!" Chisame shouted but that statement fell on deaf ears.

"Naruto-sensei cannot leave this place!"

More cheers soon erupted and Chisame shook her head at this, "Dear God, if I'm not surrounded by idiots, I'm surrounded by psychopaths. What the hell is wrong with this place?"

Once Naruto was at the dean's office, he was met by the old man who was sitting just behind his desk. The blonde looked genuinely curious about the sudden call and the old man smiled.

"Any reason why I'm being called out here today?" The blonde asked and the man simply waved his hand off and laughed.

"Yes well, I've received news that might pertain to you about something." Konoe then grabbed a letter from his person; Naruto raised his eyebrow at this and grabbed the letter that Konoemon handed to him. Once he opened the letter, a woman's figure appeared from the letter. She looked breathtakingly gorgeous and had that regal beauty with her, a noble like attitude as she stood. Naruto wasn't appreciating that though, his attention was focused much more on something else.

_BOING!_

"I am **Theodora Basileia Helladis de Vesperisszimia, **third heir of the Helas Empire." The said figure began with that very straight and commanding voice. Naruto's initial attention from her chest instantly shifted to her voice.

"Konoe-san, I am pleased that I am able to write to you at this very moment. However, such pleasantries would be for another time for there is something that requires my immediate attention." She said as she raised her right hand and showed a small Hologram of her country.

"Just two months ago, we experienced a very strong fluctuation of magic just northeast near our border that sent a tremendous wave of magic to one of the nearby towns."

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the spot where the woman was telling them.

"When one of our enforcers got to the scene, there was nothing but a crater left in its wake, approximately four hundred meters in diameter." She then showed an illustration of the site and Naruto's frown turned into a full blown scowl.

"Two months, she says? That's the same amount of time that you've been placed here, Naruto-kun." Konoe commented while stroking his beard. Naruto only watched wordlessly as the princess continued her tale, never mindful of the coincidence that occurred between him and the crater that happened to the Hellas.

"If you have noticed for the past two years or so, there have been strange anomalies occurring in Mundus Magicus alone. We don't know what's going on in there, and most likely we will maintain it that way because of our tight schedule here." Said the woman and Konoe nodded, "I suppose it is to be a given, she is after all, a very busy woman trying to run a country."

"It's been getting weird since then, just a little over a month ago, there was a strange person in my capital that was wearing very formal robes asking for my audience and telling me that there was something in this world that was running rampant and that the cause of the crater was him. I would have never believed it, but the gourd he carried on his back was telling me otherwise."

At the moment that he heard the word, gourd, Naruto's eyes instantly twitched. The moment he heard the word, was the moment he knew just who the person was.

"I want to know what is happening here or if Albireo has any idea of what's going on. If you can, I would like to hear his opinion on the matter concerning this. Also, please let him look up the identity of one named, Sabaku no Gaara, he's under our care as of this moment and has been cooperating with us very well."

Naruto outwardly cursed this time as if that awful omen he had back then was becoming true. He turned to look at Konoe as the dean's eyes turned to him.

"Care to explain this, Naruto-kun? And why the urgency?"

Naruto sighed.

"That's because that person that's in the Helas Empire is not just any noble. He's the fucking Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato. That means one of the leaders of the five great nations!"

Konoe suddenly understood the implications at this and his eyes became visible underneath all of that hair for the first time.

"This revelation is really perturbing, I must say, a leader of one of the five great nations? Things might possibly not bode well with that country as of this moment." Konoe replied as Naruto clenched his fists.

"Damn right it isn't, the country would be in panic if they didn't know where their leader was. This is terribly unexpected!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed his hair out of frustration. He knew he needed to go to Helas and see Gaara there. But the one thing stopping him was he didn't know the general direction where to go.

"I have to finish things up here as soon as I can. But first I need to contact Temari or Kankurou about the situation." Naruto turned around, his sense of responsibility gnawing in his mind. A sudden feeling of urgency took over him as he went out of the room. Before he could close the door, Konoe interrupted him.

"There will be a meeting tomorrow about the Festival that will occur in a few days time, Naruto-kun. Can I expect you to be there?"

Naruto paused for a moment but gave a silent nod. He had no other choice. He owed the man a whole lot. If it weren't for him, he would have been penniless and marooned in this place for far longer than he would have liked. He knew he needed to locate Gaara as soon as he can. But the fact of the matter is, he was still a foreign entity in this world, he doesn't know what exists outside the visage of the school and probably some part of Tokyo.

"Old man Konoe…" Naruto said amidst the silence that befell on them. The old man simply looked over to one of his best teachers and wordlessly waited for Naruto to speak.

"Promise me you won't tell Konohamaru about this." He finally said as he ultimately closed the door behind him.

Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fists, all the while gritting his teeth in frustration. Gaara would have to hold on his own for now. The first thing he needed to do was to send that letter back to the elemental countries and have someone trustworthy enough, like Shikamaru, to see this mission through to Suna and he needed to do it fast. Two months would be a missing person gone for too long.

He didn't want another Ninja War happening and this would be the best bet to quell Suna's most probable frustration.

The blonde immediately jumped out from the fifth floor and kicked his left foot on the wall, bouncing him and flipping towards the ground before leaping with Shunshin no Jutsu at incredible speeds making headway towards the heavily forested area of Mahora Academy.

* * *

Class 3-A:

"So from here on out, we're going to look for Naruto-sensei and see just what kind of trouble he's in that he has to leave school!" Asakura declared and most of the girls raised their hands above their heads in affirmation.

"B-But… We're still in class! You can't just cut classes like this!" Negi tried to reason with them and the girls immediately stopped.

"You're right, Negi-sensei. We were getting pretty hasty there…" Asakura mentioned this and admitted their faults, but not after her eyes were set ablaze with passion!

"We'll do this _AFTER _class!" She declared as she clenched her hand and looked at her classmates. Truthfully, she didn't seem to care for whatever reason Naruto had that he has to leave, but just to make sure, she needed a juicy story for the school paper. She'd been planning on an article coming about their cheerful teacher for the past few weeks, her editor was being pushed by the readers to make an article about him, and Asakura wanted to get the editor out of her back when she continuously pestered her about that article.

"Locating Naruto-sensei, you say?" Kaede asked as she looked up in a bit of amusement. She looked at the girls who were beginning to scheme in an effort to get him to talk.

"Chasing such an elusive prey, do you people really think you can corner him that way?" Mana asked this time as she looked outside towards the window and continued, "From my observation of someone like Naruto-sensei, he can be pretty cheerful and airheaded at times, but when he doesn't want to be found, he won't be found."

Many of the girls got closer to Mana and began pestering her with questions, "Mana-chan, are you stalking Naruto-sensei?"

"That's not good, Mana-chan! It's unhealthy for someone to stalk a person that they like! It's a pre-requisite for mental problems!"

"Mana-chan, teach me how to do it!"

Mana clearly had enough and coughed a little to interrupt the bombardment of questions.

"To answer the first question, No, I'm not stalking Naruto-sensei, I am wary of him. He's a person that strangely affects me in a slightly disturbing way. My inner priestess is telling me that he's someone I should be careful around with. Though I would say that to all of you as well but not in _that _sense. Naruto-sensei doesn't seem like he would advantage of anyone's feelings."

Many of the girls seem to nod in satisfaction at this as she continued, "Second, if you want my services, then I request for monetary compensation."

"What?" Asuna asked and Konoka simplified it for her, "She means we have to pay her."

"Finally, as another warning let me tell you this, if you can't locate Naruto-sensei, don't tell me that I didn't say so."

With that, the girls dropped the subject and let the day roll over until class was done.

Once the girls were out, Negi looked at his master and closed asked her as they were walking out.

"Master, what do you say about all of this?" Negi asked but Evangeline simply remained stoic throughout it all.

"Nothing. He has never been a close person to me from the beginning. Personally, it would be wasted opportunity for me to break free from the seal, but I'm sure someone else can do it." She said as she walked away from the brat before saying, "Get ready for your training later, brat. I'm not going to be holding back."

With that, Evangeline turned her back from the boy as she headed into her cottage as Negi watched in silent astonishment.

Evangeline never gave instances were she said she wasn't going to hold back. As Negi stood from his position, completely flabbergasted, he couldn't help but feel that even Evangeline was bothered by Naruto's sudden departure as well.

* * *

Naruto:

Naruto didn't want to write in the forest but he felt that he had no choice; he was sloppy in creating formal letters. He knew that, that's why when he was writing here, for his apprentice not to know of the current situation he was about to do. He didn't want his apprentice snooping on into this bit of news. Konohamaru would be needlessly getting involved in something as wide scale and as dangerous as that of the bijuu. Only people of his calibre would be able to do so, but Konohamaru hasn't reached that level yet so he didn't want his apprentice make things more complicated than they already are.

So now he stood by the lush green forest as he finished his letter. He looked back trying to see for any mistakes and finally bit his thumb. With five handseals, Naruto slammed his hand on the ground and quickly brought forth his summoning technique.

Smoke wafted through the air as it covered the area, giving a clear view of the white smoke coming all around the forest. As the smoke cleared, Naruto noticed the familiar face that happened to greet him.

"Thank goodness that you finally summoned us! Naruto-chan, your life is in grave danger!" Fukasaku shouted as Naruto gawked at the old man.

"Would someone be kind enough to give me a revelation after I'm done dealing with a previous one?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he was wrapping the scroll in his hand when Fukasaku began.

"The elder sage has spoken and gave a terrible prophecy of what is to befall on you!" Fukasaku then went on in excruciating detail about what the sage foresaw. Naruto massaged his head and shook it from the headache he was about to experience. Naruto confirmed Fukasaku's and the elder's words when he revealed that he had faced off with the Tanuki, Shukaku.

"Just after I learned that the Kazekage wounded up here… Is my luck really that terrible?" Naruto complained and Fukasaku shook his head. Fukasaku's frown deepened at the news and somehow, the puzzle that he had in his head about the whole phenomenon was completely changed and was placed with this one, only this time, it became easier to understand.

"It's becoming clear now, Naruto-chan. I think I'm finally able to tell what REALLY happened on the event that took place two months ago." Fukasaku mentioned this with a hint of seriousness in its voice. Naruto had to agree at that as well.

"I am too… If Gaara did get through to here without knowing a single Time-Space Ninjutsu that means what happened two months ago…" Naruto pondered as he looked down.

"… Was no coincidence on your part? Yes, that would escape the perplexing theory on how you got here and on how you can summon us and how we can't summon you. We have come to understand little about the nine bijuu for such an incredibly long time. If it indeed were the case, then it would also explain as to why the Kazekage was also sent here." Fukasaku said this and Naruto agreed.

"I'll say it's crazy, but there's no other alternative to suggest that it isn't. But we don't have any proof of that except for a psychotic bijuu's statement." Naruto mused as Fukasaku silently agreed.

"But this news brings us at ease somewhat. We can properly end Suna's frustration with this letter. I'll try to…" Fukasaku stopped midway when he felt someone was watching them. Naruto was about to ask when he noticed Fukasaku's expression as well. Naruto stood for a moment and remained still before turning his back to wherever Fukasaku was looking.

"I don't like it when someone is eavesdropping on our conversation!" Naruto instantly turned around and flicked his hand. A kunai suddenly slipped from beneath his sleeve and threw it to where Fukasaku was looking. The weapon sailed through the air as it went through the thick shrubbery. A loud clash of metal was heard and a person jumped from the bushes. Naruto was about to follow through with a punch until he saw Kaede that he had to stop. Fukasaku turned his head away as he said to the kunoichi, "Do you really think that you can get passed my senses, girl? You underestimate us too much!"

"So what brings you out here?" Naruto asked as he grabbed the kunai that landed on the ground before reloading the mechanism beneath his sleeve.

"Many of the girls are trying to find out the reason why you had to leave all of a sudden, de gozaru."

Naruto looked blankly at the girl as if he didn't know what she was talking about and then asked her, "Where'd you get that idea?"

"I believe it was because of the year end evaluation papers that you handed out earlier." Kaede mentioned and the blonde looked even more confused until an epiphany took over.

"Oh, that. Well, I talked over to the dean a few hours ago about what that was and said that it was my performance rating as a teacher in probation. It seems like it was my ticket to remain as a staff in here for more months to come. If I remember correctly, Negi had one too before we came here, and I'm thinking Konohamaru is having the same right now." Naruto said this with a grin and scratched the back of his head, "You thought I was leaving so soon? Nope, I'm still stuck here while I'm trying to find a way home."

Fukasaku watched in silent observation of the blonde. Naruto didn't want any of the girls to know that he was having a crisis on his own. He didn't want them to know about this problem it was something way over their heads. If he's going to find a good group of people to take the Bijuu down, he would need Kage Level companions, all of them.

Kaede only looked half convinced, she still doubts the words presented to her. She leaned in closer; her face was an inch away from Naruto's who instinctively leaned back at the sudden gesture.

"W-What?"

Kaede looked at Naruto up and down and smiled foxily at the blonde, "I don't feel completely convinced, Naruto-sensei, are you sure you won't leave, de gozaru?"

Naruto blushed from the sudden closeness that Kaede had presented to him and started sweating bullets when she was looking to see any form of body language that could tell that he was lying.

"I-It's true, I swear! Fukasaku-sensei can attest to that!" Naruto then grabbed the old toad by the waist and presented him towards Kaede who instantly leaned back out of instinct and turned pale at the sight of the frog.

"N-Naruto-chan! Not so sudden! I'm not as young as I used to!"

"Sorry!"

"T-Talking frog?" Kaede shuddered and Fukasaku looked at her, "What's the matter girlie never saw a talking toad before?"

Kaede was fine back then when she saw the giant frogs currently affiliated with Naruto that was because they never got near her. But the frog got _this_ close to her made her skin crawl.

Silence reigned in on the trio as Naruto looked over to Kaede whom he asked, "Kaede, are you alright?"

Then, one fraction of a second later, Kaede screamed.

* * *

Two hours later:

"I guess you learn something new everyday." Naruto mused as he carried the tall girl on his back and headed towards the dorms.

"Who would've thought Kaede would be afraid of toads for some reason?" Naruto continued and dropped her off in her dorm room. Along the way, he explained to the girls that he wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"Naruto-sensei!" A voice called out to him when he was beginning his walk towards his apartment. The blonde turned around and looked at the ghost girl that appeared to his side.

"Please don't tell me you're leaving!" She pleaded the boy to stay, he was so nice to be around with, and it would be a shame if he left.

Naruto shook his head with a smile and said to Sayo, "Nope, I'm not leaving yet. So you can rest easy, Sayo, I'm not leaving until I get things done."

Sayo stayed silent for a moment and stayed close to Naruto for a while as they walked, truly, it was a time to ponder on things to the gravity of Naruto's words.

"I wish I could go with you once you leave." She said in sorrow as she looked down. Naruto felt sorry for the girl, but he knew he had something to do important. But he felt awful somehow, that he would leave Sayo behind. The girl almost had no people to talk to except for the magically aware but even then, it was a stretch. Evangeline wasn't a social person to begin with and Negi was like her, a wallflower, shy and demure.

"Don't worry, Sayo, I'm sure by the time I leave, you would have a lot of friends by then and would only remember me by."

"But, you're one of the few people that could really make me happy…" She replied but Naruto shook his head with a knowing smile.

"Sayo, the things that make people smile are the things that they look for. Happiness isn't given to us, Sayo, we earn it. We earn the friendship of others when we take the first step. It gives us meaning, Sayo. So don't back out, okay? Because backing out means you won't have any friends, and that you lost. I'm here for you because I'm your friend, I'll try introducing you to the others, but you have to try yourself. Someday, I'll be leaving this place not because I want to, it's because I have to. That and I don't belong here. I belong somewhere else. And by then, I hope you can find that little courage in you that you showed to me back then and let it out into the world. Aisaka Sayo, you're a wonderful girl, don't forget that." Naruto said with a melancholic smile as Sayo tried to grasp Naruto's arm, tears falling down on her face. She knew it was too good to be true. Naruto was only here temporarily but her time with him was enough to acknowledge the fact that he was probably the only person that Sayo wouldn't mind following forever.

Once he left them and went back towards his apartment, he almost forgot that he had to make a stop over at Evangeline's place in order to mention to Eva the progress of the seal design.

Once he got to the resort however, Evangeline was looking at him incredulously.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were about to leave!" Evangeline shouted and Naruto replied to her candidly, "What? Are you angry? I thought you'd be more than happy to get rid of me."

"Of course I am! It's not like I ever hoped you get to free me from this stupid seal!" Evangeline hollered and Naruto paused for a moment before laughing his ass off.

Evangeline's eyebrow twitched

"Naruto-nii-san, what's so funny?" Negi obviously asked and Naruto answered him, "You see Negi, Evangeline here says that she doesn't care if I leave or not when in fact, she's going to miss lil' ole me. The truth is, I won't be leaving until I finish my work here! So ha! Got you good there, Eva-chan!"

Naruto pointed to himself as Evangeline glared at him.

"Eva-chan, you're so cute when you're always so Tsun-tsun like that. Maybe if you were in adult form I would've fallen for you already! I thought you were about to cry like that!" Naruto continued to tease the girl as Evangeline kept grinding her teeth.

Evangeline blushed at that as she shook her fist in rage at the fact that he had inadvertently caught her off guard once more.

"This guy…" Evangeline's eyes were already bloodshot just from watching Naruto laugh at her expense.

"AXE OF THUNDER!"

**KRAKOW!**

"Woah! Wait! I take those words back! Don't do anything hasty!"

"Too late, you plebeian! I am going to enjoy electrocuting you for the next twenty four hours!"

"Now stay calm, Eva-chan! I was only joking!"

"JOKE THIS! ONE HUNDRED MAGICAL ARROWS OF ICE!"

**BOOM!**

"Ack! Wait! That doesn't come off!"

And all was well again.

* * *

The next day:

Naruto looked like he put his finger in a socket as he walked towards Class 3-A. Once he opened the doors however he was looking at Negi and two of the girls who were looking quite traumatized.

"What's going on?" He asked to Mana who merely shrugged.

"We couldn't decide on what we would do for the festival. So we were discussing this with Negi-sensei."

Naruto scratched the back of his head at this and sat by the desk.

"Well then, I'm being lazy right now with teaching so I guess I can let you girls go over whatever you need to decide to do with the festival."

Then the girls continued their most heated dispute.

"No Underwear café!"

Naruto's nose just gushed forth a torrent of blood and he fell down on the desk unconscious.

* * *

To be continued…

Finally done! Rushed ending, I know but I had to do this just before review week for my prelims, hope you enjoyed this chapter thought!


	21. Information is Rampant

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Twenty-One: Information is Rampant

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office as the staff outside was in total disarray, scrambling to whatever section they were going to. She had just received a letter from Naruto just a few days after she found out that the Kazekage was missing according to their liaison and sister of the Kazekage, Temari.

"Watch where you're going, flatfoot!"

"Hey, screw you, man!"

"I'M A WOMAN, YOU ASSHOLE!"

"REALLY? I COULDN'T TELL BECAUSE OF THE IRONING BOARD ON YOUR CHEST!"

Tsunade felt like a vein was starting to bulge on the back of her head as she concentrated on the letter that Naruto had given her earlier. The ruckus outside was driving her up the wall and the important letter that Fukasaku had given her hours earlier was something she needed to review and see for herself.

There was no doubt about it, Naruto wrote the letter himself. It was obvious that it was his handwriting. She smiled slightly with pride as she read the letter, Naruto was learning in diplomacy though he still has a long way to go. It was formal, but not overly so. Perhaps she could never remove that part of him, he was raised differently, he learned differently, and unsurprisingly, became unorthodox in his own life because of it.

Perhaps it was his way of handling things; the letter was very reassuring to the Sand Siblings and he was already writing a letter to the Kazekage right now. He was telling the Hokage and the Sand Siblings that there was something wrong going on that catapulted them here, and that the implosion that happened in the training grounds was no mere accident. There was something going on in the other world and he intended to find out just what it was.

Naruto had an inkling suspicion that it wasn't just the Kazekage that was sent in that world. He mentioned to watch out for increased patrols, political envoys and search teams from Lightning Country just to make sure. If anything, he also left a letter to a Kumo messenger just in case.

Tsunade scowled at this as she remembered that there was still another jinchuuriki left alive.

It was Killer Bee, the Raikage's brother.

Whoever or whatever force was under this, Tsunade was sure, the drums of war was about to sound again.

The Alliance would not take this kindly. If someone has the nerve to do this against the Five Great Nations, they would surely retaliate.

The hammer of judgement has raised its gavel, and the person or persons responsible for this had already been sentenced before they could ever meet them.

If the horror of the Fourth War was any indication, the jinchuuriki would once more play the most vital role in this.

"That's it you chauvinistic pig! I've had enough of your antics! Let's take this outside!"

"I didn't know you were the kinky type!"

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose at this as she shook her head, another headache slowly making its way in a few minutes. She needed something to numb it down.

"Shizune, get me a bottle of the toughest Sake there is in Konoha! I want to get this over with as soon as possible!"

Going on a drinking binge surely doesn't help, but damn it, she needed something like this!

* * *

Mahora:

'_Patrasche… I'm tired'_

"NO! PATRASCHE! WHY'D YOU HAVE TO DIE?" Naruto shouted in anguish as he bit his handkerchief tightly while holding it with both hands as he sat among the current discarded props Negi's section had lying on the floor. His eyes were watery and were shimmering with tears.

"Geez, Sensei, it's only a kid's movie!" Madoka shouted as Naruto glared at the girl with a pout while Negi was openly weeping as well.

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU DISRESPECT PATRASCHE'S MEMORY! NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS!"

Mana sighed at this as she shook her head. The priestess gunslinger chastised their slightly older teacher, "Sensei, calm down, it's a fictional character. And although tear jerking, you're acting worse than Negi-sensei."

Said teacher was already calming down and was wiping a few droplets of tears from his eyes.

"Well, it's your fault for letting me stay after class for your report on Nitta's subject!" Naruto shouted indignantly with a pout as he crossed his arms and turned the other way.

Many of the class found it both cute and childish.

"That's because Madoka suggested you help us in our literature homework." Yue added rather poignantly and everyone glared at Madoka.

Half past the movie, Naruto was already bawling as was Negi. The fact that they were immediately distracted because of the two distracted them from the main point of the entire ordeal in the first place. Konohamaru couldn't help. The PE teacher was stuck in the gym for at least two more hours for his last class to finish.

"Well, now that we've watched the movie, what do you think, Naruto-sensei?" Konoka asked politely. The blonde scratched his head sheepishly and answered rather embarrassingly at that, "It was sad?"

"And?" Shiina asked expectantly.

"Sad?"

"Aaaannd?" Ayaka dragged on as the impatience was getting the best of her.

Naruto was looking rather thoughtful for a moment and finally shrugged, "I got nothing."

An awkward silence…

"Madoka, you promised to us Naruto-sensei would be able to help us with this! YOU LIED TO US!" Asakura shouted that last part louder than usual as she continued, "How you guys got a high score on Nitta's last homework, I'll never know! It might just be dumb luck!"

"Hey, I resent that. I was just familiar with the book, is all!" Naruto defended himself.

Well, not familiar per se, but the book had a lot of characters he was familiar with. He still couldn't get over the fact that Tsunade and Jiraiya got together in that one. A smile graced his lips as he remembered that book. He had enjoyed reading that fine piece of local literature.

Every.

Single.

Minute.

He couldn't possibly wait for him to take this book and give it to Tsunade. Perhaps a dramatic reading in front of her and some of the staff in the office would be icing on the cake.

"Naruto-sensei…"

A voice brought him out of his musings as he looked towards the front door and quickly noticed Takahata was calling out to him.

"It seems the dean requests for your presence once more. He says he needs you for something"

"Be right there in a moment!" Naruto exclaimed as he quickly got out of his seat and made his way out the door.

"Wait, Naruto-sensei!" One of the girls asked, Naruto looked and noticed Shiina was approaching him.

"Would you like to go see our concert for the festival?"

Then, the questions began piling up.

"What about the play?"

"The Haunted House!"

"The Fighting Dojo!"

Naruto held his hands up and told them in a simple manner, gesturing for them to calm down, after that he cleared his throat and said to them with the grin, "Sure, I'll go where you girls will be stationed at! But I don't know about Konohamaru…"

With that, Naruto left and ran off towards the office of the dean with a wave of his hand at the class.

"You know, I've been noticing lately that Naruto-sensei is being called out by the dean more often. Are you noticing the pattern?" Haruna mused as she looked thoughtful at this. She looked towards her friends who were quietly watching many of their classmates already packing up and going home.

"Enough about that, have you girls ever heard a rumor concerning the world tree?" Yuna asked, all matters pertaining about the blonde sensei were temporarily forgotten when gossip was in the air. Particularly this one, as it featured in the school newspaper just recently. Something about the World Tree and getting a kiss near its vicinity.

Nodoka, however, wasn't paying attention to the group of students that were talking about the rumor (although it did interest her), but instead was reading the note written on a crumpled piece of paper.

'_Nodoka, I have something that Asuna and the others might be interested in talking about.'_

_Yue_

"Hey, Honya-chan, watcha' reading?" Haruna asked as Nodoka suddenly crumpled the note in her hands in surprise. She looked over to her friend who was staring at her rather curiously as she kept the note very close to her chest, not letting Haruna see the contents of it.

"Um… It's just something that I need to do at the library later." Nodoka looked sideways at this as Yue wordlessly stood up from her seat. The one questioning her, however, didn't even look convinced.

"I'm sorry but I have some errands I need to do. If you'll excuse me, I won't be back at the dorm until later tonight." Yue said in her monotone voice as she went out, Haruna's eyebrow was raised at this.

"Since when did Yue-chi go outside for errands like that? Are you two hiding something from me?" Haruna inquired and Yue's eyelids twitched ever so slightly.

"Aha! You are hiding something! Spill! What is it?"

Nodoka and Yue could only shiver at this.

* * *

With Naruto:

"Even though I already gave you an answer as to who was Theodora's guest at the time, you're still up and about giving this letter to this Albireo guy?" Naruto asked, looking annoyed.

Konoemon chuckled in good nature as he said to the blonde, "Yes, you've given me enough information to warrant a massive worldwide alert. Well, at least on Mundus Magicus, and for that I don't know if I should run around this room like a headless chicken or sign my granddaughter to be wed this early. You've hardly given me a description of what these beasts look like after all."

Naruto looked at his side and closed the door behind him slightly, activating a simple seal that sealed of sound from going outside.

"This place came dangerously close to having one and causing genocide all around here. I think it's understandable that anyone would feel terror once one of these things set foot on your grounds." Naruto spoke and the old man agreed with Naruto through a single nod of his head.

"There's also the matter that's been bothering me for a while." Naruto continued as he rummaged through his coat pocket, pulling out a small black scroll.

"What is it?"

"It's what the Ichibi said to me, telling me that they're calling out to each other, that they're seeking completion. But it should be impossible. The body exists back in MY world. The bijuu are just living chakra masses, even if they were to be completed, they need a container for such a massive amount of energy or else it could cause a surge powerful enough to wipe out a whole continent." Naruto explained as he put a hand under his chin and began to think as he placed the black scroll on the old man's desk.

"The information on how to contain them as well as the materials needed are only available through one of the three holders of these black scrolls. Not only that, one of the most essential materials needed to create such a thing is a certain genetic code that traces back to the origin of all Ninjutsu. That's something only located back in my world. If you have a machine that can cross dimensions, then that would be a problem."

Naruto specifically kept quiet about him being a descendant of the Rikudo Sennin, that secret was something he would _never_ reveal to anyone here.

Konoe laughed nervously at that, it's not as if the terminal to Mundus Magicus could link to Naruto's world, if he wanted to apply that theory, they would need enormous amounts of energy to do it.

"For now, we're safe at least. Well with you having the One Tailed Shukaku is a bit of a relief. It means somewhere along the line, for whatever reason these bijuu are being used for is delayed. You've thrown a wrench in their plans, whoever they may be." Konoe mentioned this as he leaned back into his chair. Certainly the thought of one of his subordinates being as competent as the blonde brought a sign of relief at the whole situation. He could no further elaborate how much helpful Naruto has been in the Academy ever since his arrival. He would daresay that Naruto was as helpful as Takamichi about certain matters particularly this one. Convenient as it is, he was glad that the blonde and his apprentice made it here if only to bring light into the matter.

Naruto scoffed at it as he grabbed the black scroll from the dean's desk and pocketed it.

"I've been doing that sort of thing since I was twelve. Foiling plans from evil masterminds is something that I do, old man. Just to remind you though, the only person who knows a lot about these things in this place right now is me, which means that under no circumstances should any of your associates engage these things without me around, I've got the knowledge on what they are but sharing them is a different matter. These things aren't meant for anyone's eyes except to the people that have encountered them and those who we deem as people worthy enough."

The serious look Naruto gave Konoe brought the old man in a mirthful expression underneath his long beard.

"I'll take note of it. Now, however, you need to deliver that letter to Al and get to know him. Who knows? Maybe he can help you on our soon-to-be crisis. He's a member of Ala Rubra after all."

Naruto contemplated this for a moment before finally saying to Konoe, "I'll think about it."

With that, he went out the door and deactivated the seal he had planted on earlier. Once the blonde was out, Konoe gave a sigh and slumped from his chair ever so slightly.

"One would think that a person of his attitude would be quite careless and reckless. But he's actually shows more than he lets on if you talk about the right topics. Uzumaki Naruto, a living contradiction indeed."

* * *

Library Island:

Naruto stared at the gaping hole that lay in the middle of the structure with naught but a frown on his face as a powerful updraft of wind made its way to roof, ruffling his uniform and his hair from the forceful gale.

To his side, Konohamaru stood there with a hand on his hip as he stared down at the chasm like structure.

"Why am I here?" Konohamaru asked as he watched the blonde walk closer and closer at the edge with his hands in his pockets.

"I overheard that the girls and Negi were about to discuss something big in here and I don't want them bothering me for one bit." Naruto answered and Konohamaru immediately picked up on what Naruto had meant.

"You want me to make sure that they don't go to wherever you are?" Konohamaru looked rather annoyed at this. Naruto frowned at his apprentice because of the fact that he was relegated to being a distraction.

"Hey, to where I'm going you're going to be more of a liability than of help, stay to where Negi and the others are. I mean it, Konohamaru. There isn't a damn thing you could do about it." Naruto put his foot down with that statement and turned back to the chasm. In truth, he didn't want Konohamaru to hear about what he had planned. If he had heard then the brunette would have most likely pushed to be part of his plan as well.

Naruto, even though he had complete faith in his student most of the time, found it hard to keep Konohamaru involved in something as big as this. He knew the boy wasn't ready and he was sure that Konohamaru would die if he were to be involved. So he made sure never to speak of the bijuu or whatever discovery he had found concerning them, lest the brunette would want an untimely death, he had seen far too much of it already.

"Fine, but you owe me after this." Konohamaru relented as he jumped away from the roof and in to the main complex itself.

'_Sorry, Konohamaru, but this is for the best.' _Naruto apologized mentally as he jumped after he saw Konohamaru disappear from his view.

With a deep breath, Naruto dived headfirst into the spiralling chasm below with immense speed.

His hair swayed upwards as the wind blew into his face at tremendous speeds, diving like a comet as the wind began to pick up from his body surrounding him like a cocoon.

With Yue:

Loosing Haruna was a troublesome affair she did not want to deal with again. That woman was extremely good at following them. She had to take differing routes and all of them had to have a purpose in mind. Although frustrating and it hurt her wallet, the snooping mangaka decided to give up when she looked somewhat convinced when Yue bought something at the gift shop.

A terrible blow to her wallet but a minor inconvenience compared to Negi-sensei's or Konohamaru-sensei's situation. Once she had made it to the library, she was greeted by a set of familiar faces that sat all around the room.

Nodoka was sitting directly by the door while Asuna, Kazumi, Setsuna and Konoka were across the table. Negi and Konohamaru were at the side, looking quite confused while the other was solemn. From the top of the pile of books that Nodoka was sorting out, was Chamo who was talking to Negi about something.

Whatever it was, Yue had no intention of finding out. For what her discovery is would most likely be a much better topic than what the ermine has been babbling about.

"Took you long enough, Yue, was Haruna that hard to shake off?"

Ever the impatient one, Asuna remarked rather callously. Yue paid it no heed.

"She is difficult to convince otherwise once she has made up her mind. I cannot tell you how much money I had to spend just to keep her away from this little secret."

Yue then went through the pile of books that were arranged unceremoniously by the side of the table. Her hands began touching for each book as she scanned by the binders to find what she was looking for.

"So what's this big discovery you have, Ayase?" Konohamaru asked, looking quite disinterested at the moment as he rested his left cheek on his left palm.

"Konohamaru-sensei, I'm surprised that you're here. As I recall, I only called for a specific number of people." Not that Konohamaru should be aware of this, but Yue was honestly surprised.

"I bumped into Negi earlier and decided to tag along. So what's the big scoop?" Konohamaru asked and Yue nodded. With the desired book in hand, she flipped through the pages and scanned them, telling the people inside the room as she did so.

"As you know, the encounter that happened a few days ago brought many questions out in the open, particularly these two, 'Who are those people that sent those demons here?' and more importantly, 'What are these bijuu?'" Yue introduced as she finally stopped from scanning and held the book up. Konohamaru raised an eyebrow as he eyed the title of the book.

_Japanese Folklore and Myths_

"I have yet to come up with an answer to the first, but for the second, I have an inkling suspicion." Yue mentioned, Konohamaru's suddenly grew wide and his right hand grasped hard to his right knee.

"Bijuu, beings that are not biologically complete yet sentient, beings made up of energy, this thing called chakra. None of those references were found in any of the myths I've read around the world." Yue continued, Asuna however, raised her hand in question, "Why would you want to reference legends and old wives' tales, Yue? Doesn't it seem pointless to know about these things since Naruto and Konohamaru-sensei came from a different world?"

Yue shook her head, "There is a difference in that, Asuna-san. It's not that Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei are aliens from our side of the dimension; they are ultimately living at another universe with 'a different set of rules' as Naruto-sensei puts it."

A set of rules? Now Asuna was confused. As if Yue had read her mind, she began to explain as simple as she can, "It would be very hard to explain since I myself find it very confusing. But let's stick to examples so that we can understand it all."

Many of them nodded as Yue stood from seat and went for the blackboard that was conveniently placed by the window.

"Picture two places having several things in common and several things different in between them, in this case, let's stick to our language. Here we have our Japanese language or Nippongo as we put it. On the other side, they have the same medium of communication." Yue then drew a line in between the two identical words and continued, "Nippongo is a language that exists only in one particular country here in this world. Even though it's a language that's been getting popular recently, foreigners speak with the language in a completely awkward manner. Yet Naruto-sensei, who barely looks Japanese, can speak the language so fluently and so casually that people still find it hard to believe he could speak it let alone teach it and one that's so young."

Setsuna nodded at this, "No matter how you look at sensei, he looks more like a foreigner."

Yue's nod seemed to have told her that her say in the matter was noted. "Which leads me to believe that this language that exists on the other side is the more universal language compared to English."

Konohamaru looked thoughtful at this. It was true; their language has been used in and out of the country as a basic medium.

"With that difference noted, I suspect that Nippongo exists here as a minor language compared to English, but on the other side, it exists as perhaps the universal language which would explain Konohamaru-sensei's and Naruto-sensei's slight difficulty in reading the English alphabet. In there, Nippongo is the common language just like how English is for us or how Latin was to the ancient world. Do you see where I'm getting at, Asuna-san?"

Asuna nodded at this and Yue continued, "The same language but with a different circumstance or 'rules'. That is what Naruto-sensei meant. The same set of rules would apply to him. He isn't an extraterrestrial life form, Asuna-san. He's a being of an alternate plane that has a counterpart in this world, his complete opposite. The same could be said for Konohamaru-sensei."

Asuna shook her head, "Now It's getting confusing."

"It is and I would simply like to end it as it is. We've wasted enough time talking about alternate dimensions when we've dawdled long enough." Yue then showed them a picture of a small fox with nine tails swaying in the air.

"Bijuu, a beast with a tail; there has only been one recorded legend of a said monster with emphasis to its tail. For every one hundred years, a kitsune sprouts a tail to indicate its longevity. The more tails it has, the older and more powerful it is. If it then reaches the age of a thousand years, then it sprouts a ninth tail and is said to gain the gift of immortality."

To this, Yue flipped over the next page and showed that the kitsune, who looked visually small in the first picture, now stood towering over a man.

"Alone, the word doesn't terribly bring out any form fear in anyone. But a classification like this means that these bijuu aren't just single species, we can probably put the kitsune in there as our prime basis of these bijuu, but let's not worry about their appearance, we should worry about…"

"Does it matter?"

Yue was cut off when Konohamaru spoke, the girls and Negi all looked at the brunette whose scowl never escaped his features when Yue spoke.

"Those things aren't your concern and you would all do well to not bother with them. We'll deal with the problem ourselves."

"But…" Negi interrupted when Konohamaru looked at the red head with a stern expression.

"I mean it. If any of you can stand on Naruto-nii's or on Evangeline's level then we wouldn't even be having any doubts. If you all want to die early then be my guest, but I'm not about to…"

Konohamaru then suddenly stopped, for he felt an enormous amount of chakra escaping from the chasm, he felt a powerful pressure pressing him down as his eyes widened. His breathing suddenly deepened and increased, like the air had somehow thinned. He looked around; he could see his vision was getting fuzzy, as if everything was vibrating all around him. His world was instantly spinning.

Everyone around him all froze up as the sudden release of such powerful energy escaping from the very bottom of the chasm. It felt strong and unbelievably imposing. Negi felt his heart beating at a very fast pace. He could feel his fear escaping as it did the first time he faced Evangeline. Such unbridled power was nothing new to him, but the fact that he could feel himself as nothing more than a feeble little man compared to this was scaring him to his wits.

Konohamaru however looked like he recognized this energy signature, he looked panicked, scared even. The brunette was trying to show as little of it as possible but it was a futile attempt.

"This is…" Setsuna muttered as she went outside, fully aware of what it could possibly entail.

Konohamaru soon went after, dashing towards Setsuna at a brisk pace.

Then, as soon as it appeared, it suddenly vanished once more. The impossibly large energy output was gone in a matter of seconds.

Like there was nothing there.

"What the hell was that?"

She then saw Negi dashing outside to where Konohamaru and Setsuna most likely ran off to.

Setsuna, from the corner of her eye, watched Konohamaru dashing in a panicked look, his eyes were wide and his breathing was deep and fast. He stopped by the very edge of the floor they were currently in and jumped on the rails. He looked down and panic was slowly dissipating as the sensation left him.

It had been a year since he felt that kind of power, the power that no mere human should posses.

Kyuubi.

It was brief but the feeling was there. Unfathomable power, immeasurable strength, the power that could cause tsunamis and earthquakes, the power that can flatten mountains. It was brief but it felt longer. Being one that had a first hand experience in feeling the very power of the Kyuubi, Konohamaru's mind could recognize that chakra signature _anywhere_ both good and bad.

"Konohamaru-sensei, I need to know. Is a bijuu supposed to be down there?" Setsuna asked and Konohamaru shook his head, cold sweat dripping at the side of his face.

The girl was adamant on finding out. She needed to know; the brunette turned to the swordswoman and said something that she couldn't fully understand.

"I-I don't know..." Konohamaru mentioned, as he grasped the railing rather hard.

Konohamaru gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly.

'_Damn it, Naruto-nii… Why now?'_

All he could hear as an answer was the sound of the chasm's bottomless abyss and the sound of the wind howling from the bottom.

A few minutes earlier:

Naruto descended to the bottom of the chasm like a rocket. His uniform roughly swaying with the wind as did his hair while his heart was pounding at a fast pace. It had been a while since he had done such a thing for the sake of thrills. Back then, he was too busy and was too focused in his work with Fuinjutsu. It didn't help either that Tsunade was grooming him to become the next Hokage.

When he could finally see what was at the very bottom of the abyss, Naruto redirected the flow of wind of his Fuujin no Jingi on to the side and glided him to it. Naruto then landed on his feet and with his momentum, dashed at an astonishing rate before jumping and landing on the ground hard with his feet. A cloud of dust escaped from his wake as the turbulence slowly stopped.

"Well, here's my stop. Now where is that Albireo guy?"

His search would have to be on hold however, when a powerful and earth shaking roar echoed all around him.

"**RRRROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRRRRR!"**

He turned his back and his eyebrow rose at which the beast that Negi and the rest had faced earlier suddenly had its gaping maws facing him.

"So you're the beast that's been guarding this place, huh?" Naruto asked rhetorically and the dragon growled at the trespasser.

"Too bad I don't have that sword with me, but I guess I don't need it anymore to finish this." Naruto then pocketed the letter into his coat and cracked his knuckles. It was then that everything turned bright yellow. He could feel its power overtaking his entire being as his body felt warm, the feeling of once more using the Kyuubi's chakra at its rawest form, it felt absolutely magnificent!

The dragon unconsciously stepped back as it gazed upon the source of such tremendous power.

"Sorry, leather butt, but I can't waste any time here trying to play with you."

And in a flash of yellow light, Naruto turned into nothing but an instrument of pure and unbridled destruction.

A few seconds later, the dragon was knocked out of the count as Naruto stood at the side with what could be seen as a frown written all over his face.

"It's been a while since I had to do that, but then again, time was of the essence." Naruto then clapped his hands together as if trying to clean the dust and soot that somewhat collected in his hands.

"Oh? You didn't have to go overboard with this one." The new voice spoke.

Naruto turned his head just to the side and looked at his back.

"You Albireo?" The blonde asked.

The man made no response but a nod. Naruto couldn't get a good look at his face, but he nonetheless grabbed the letter from his coat pocket and presented it to the man.

"I've got a letter here for you and a few questions you might want to answer."

The man could only turn his head towards the blonde.

Upstairs:

"What the hell was that? Why were you all running?" Asuna asked for another time as she was by the edge of the current floor they were in.

"Asuna, look up." Konoka pointed upwards as she tugged Asuna's shirt to get her attention.

Asuna looked up and saw people from the outer ring looking down below at the chasm completely surrounding it. Apparently, Negi and the others weren't the only ones that came running here.

"W-What's going on? What on earth was that insane amounts energy coming from down there?" One of them shouted, pointing to the chasm below.

Negi and Konohamaru could recognize some of them as teachers and some were students. One of them was fortunately or unfortunately enough, Takamichi.

Much to Konohamaru's chagrin however, the said teacher took notice of them immediately.

"Would any of you two please explain to me what just happened?" Takahata asked in exasperation and Konohamaru twitched.

"You seem to know more than you let on, Konohamaru-kun. Perhaps you were involved in this mess?"

"No, I swear I'm not!" Konohamaru vehemently denied any form of involvement into something such as this.

Takahata was about to ask more from the brunette when he heard a ring from his phone. The bespectacled teacher then went to his mobile phone and read that the Dean was calling him.

A few minutes after answering the phone, Takahata's face was laced with shock and surprise.

"Are you sure?" The teacher asked.

'_Yes, I just had __a talk with Albireo earlier and said that he had everything under control and the one that let out that massive amount of energy was definitely Naruto-kun's. Be at ease, Takamichi-kun.'_

"E-Even if you say that, Konoe-sama, I don't…"

'_Let's just say Naruto-kun has a lot of tricks up his sleeve and leave__ it at that, Takamichi-kun.'_

Takahata took a deep breath and sighed in exasperation before finally saying to the dean.

"Whatever it is, Konoe-sama, I trust your judgment upon the situation."

After that, the conversation was cut off.

The silver haired teacher then looked over to his fellow worried mages and announced to them, "Okay, people, it seems Konoe-sama has already identified the source of the massive energy surge and he is saying that it's no threat to the school. Apparently, one of the staff members is considerably powerful enough to let out something like that. Whatever it is, it's on our side."

With that, the magically aware people of Mahora slowly dispersed from the scene albeit warily as they all took a second glance at the hole before heading back to wherever it is they were going.

Takamichi sighed once more as he headed back but not before apologizing to Konohamaru and Negi. Who would have thought that a seventeen year old would have such an enormous amount of power? And able to completely control it as well? Takamichi had to put Naruto's levels of power very close to Evangeline's for this one. It wasn't malevolent, however. It was the complete opposite of what Evangeline usually gives out around her, dark and brooding. This one seemed lively and bright. Overwhelming positive energy was what he could make of it. It was there but the power was indeed very morale boosting, or uplifting if that were the case. It wasn't just that, even someone who has little experience in magic would be able to detect or the densely palpable levels of magical energy escaping.

But still, for someone of Naruto's age to be able to let out something as big as that, Takamichi shuddered at the thought of the blonde going full power. His musings were disrupted, however, by a tall blonde girl that tapped him on the shoulder. Emerald green eyes filled of what could possibly be confusion written all over her cute and heart shaped face.

"Takahata-sensei, I must inquire you about this new staff member that the dean has mentioned. I admit, he has me curious, that potent magical energy I felt was nothing of the sort that I felt in my entire experience as a mage."

The middle aged teacher looked rather uneasy at this and turned his gaze back at the chasm, scratching the back of his head as he cleared his throat.

"It's difficult to explain that person's circumstances, Takane-san. His current situation is quite… Unusual even for mages, I say. But if you must know, please ask him yourself, we're going to have that meeting later, aren't we?" Takahata asked, wanting to avoid on any form of revelation to the girl. He felt it wasn't in his place to explain a young seals master's life in front of her.

The young woman raised an eyebrow at this but nonetheless, turned back and headed back towards the mainland.

Back to Konohamaru and Negi's group, they were still thinking of trying to go down into the very bottom of the structure, with Konohamaru vehemently opposing the idea, when Mana and Kaede decided to make their entrance.

"Oya, oya, oya, I didn't know you were all here today. Were you all discussing something important?" The ninja asked with an amused tone. Yue, being the blunt girl that she is, gave a straight answer.

"We were discussing these things called the bijuu when something put Konohamaru-sensei in a panic and Setsuna-san ran out the door. Although it was minute, I sensed something very palpable in the air when the door opened. Sadly, I cannot fully grasp t what they were feeling so I can give no further description than that."

Kaede gave a single nod. Asuna on the other hand, continued to argue with Konohamaru about going down stairs to find out what it was that gave off that enormous amount of energy.

"I'm telling you that let's not go there! Those guys that were watching earlier can handle the situation. Let's not chase this thing without any form of preparation! It's suicide!" Konohamaru chastised although with a raised voice, quickly determining his frustration and anger. Stalling for time has never been easy nor was it enjoyable. He would have rather buttheads with Negi and the others and not deal with talking. Making up excuses are a lot more difficult than punching someone in the face.

"The hell? If we have a chance to stop then we might as well go for it! We need to go down there and see it for ourselves!" Asuna retorted. Did Konohamaru not have any faith in them at all? Their bickering would be halted however, when Kaede stepped in between them and told them.

"If you feel that you don't know anything about that energy signature, then let me tell you what it is, de gozaru." Kaede answered. Konohamaru turned to the tall kunoichi in a shocked expression. Was Kaede one of the people that faced the One-tailed Shukaku before?

"You know that energy signature? I'm surprised." Mana sneered at the girl who merely waved it off with a smirk of her own, "Of course, it's not everyday that you get to face a Bijuu alongside an age old vampire and a very powerful ninja."

Mana's expression turned into a scowl, "I've never heard of this, Kaede. You're telling me you've faced some sort of monster alongside Eva-san and Naruto-sensei?"

Kaede's smirk got bigger, "Of course, it was a pretty nasty creature, I must say. You could deliver no harm to it let alone destroy it. So Naruto-sensei used a sealing method to defeat the monster, de gozaru."

"So that's why he's been using fuuda. He's not only a high level ninja but a seals master as well…" Mana's scowl returned to a frown when she thought about it. Naruto bothered her for reasons unknown. Perhaps this was the cause of it? That subtle energy that she felt he unknowingly emits from time to time, like small drips of water from a faucet, suddenly felt like a dam had burst. That immense and overwhelming power, from so far away she could feel its intensity. But she could never find any form of malevolence in it, only a feeling of warmth, passion, and exuberance?

It was very weird, yet very intriguing.

She turned to look at Setsuna who was pelting Kaede with her questions.

"H-How was it like fighting a monster like that?"

Kaede only shook her head, "I couldn't fight it directly, but Naruto-sensei and Eva-san did. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be speaking to you now, de gozaru."

And it was an honest truth, she knew for a fact that no ordinary human could ever stand up against a monster like that. She had feared for her life at first, although she didn't show it. After all, what use would fear be on the battlefield? And one where you can't even hide from?

"So, whatever's down there is a bijuu?" Asuna asked, obviously laced with anxiety, while Kaede shook her head.

"No, it's familiar, but it's different all the same. When we were fighting the Ichibi, I felt its Ki as something chaotic, too random and very dense. This one still has that very dense and thick flow of ki. But it's calmer and feels much more like a pristine lake compared to the Ichibi."

Negi looked confused at this, "But it's impossible! The last time I was there, there was only a dragon guarding a big gate!"

Setsuna shook her head at this, "We don't know what a bijuu looks like; it could be as big as a house or as small as a human. If anything, It could only be as big as Chamo but with enough power…"

Kaede immediately interrupted, "No, it's definitely bigger than a house. When we were trapped in a seal, that monster was probably as big as the one that we saw in Kyoto although a lot more violent and much more unpredictable, de gozaru."

"But something of that size should have been seen by anyone in the campus!" Asuna exclaimed, remembering Sukuna no Kami's imposing stature that waded through the once pristine lake to where it was once sealed.

Something of that size would have definitely been seen. Kaede shook her head, "It should have, were it not for a seal that transported us to a desert wasteland. We were trapped in it until one side was beaten. Or at least, that's the conclusion that Naruto-sensei came up with."

Asuna's looked utterly confused at this while Mana's eyes were narrowing towards the ninja.

"So if Naruto-sensei and Eva-san failed against that beast…" Mana's eyes widened in realization of that event, surely the worst case scenario would have played out.

"The bijuu would have been the one who got out of the seal and wrecked havoc." Kaede finished, her sunny expression suddenly darkened and the consequence of failure had hit the group head on.

Konohamaru shivered. He could still remember what it was like to be near the presence of a bijuu. The six tailed form of the Kyuubi when it possessed Naruto was enough of a reminder to chisel that fear into the very depths of his soul.

"Enough about that, are you sure we should leave it be? The others might be willing to ignore this, but not me." Asuna stated and grabbed her card.

Konohamaru extended his arm sideways, blocking the path downstairs, eyes changed from that of panic to steel like gaze.

"Naruto-nii's down there taking care of business, to where you're going, you'll only be a bother. I suggest you stop."

Asuna's forehead suddenly grew a tick mark. She was getting annoyed at Konohamaru's attempts to stop her from going downstairs.

"Konohamaru-sensei certainly raises a good point, Asuna-san. It is best to agree with him and let things go." Yue helpfully added. Asuna looked rather reluctant at the suggestion, but seemed to agree nonetheless.

Later that day:

The sunset slowly gave way to the cold and starless night with its bright orange hue at Mahora, now littered with little lamps and the occasional fireflies dancing about the shrubbery and the side of the streams.

Naruto had gotten out of that chasm earlier after some pleasant talk with Albireo (Mostly it was about some tips in pissing off Evangeline to a greater degree than what he already does) to a deserted library island, his talk with the man had been quite long, explaining to him some of the things about the Helas Empire and its location within Mundus Magicus. He wasn't sure how long Eva will pick up on what he and admittedly crafty bastard would be up to, but he sure as hell would like to see her reaction once she does.

Maybe he should take a picture of it to for memory and share it with that guy. Mischief brings people together, they say, he wondered just how much material Albireo has against Evangeline.

Anyway, now that matter was out of the way, today would be the meeting that Konoe had been forcing them to attend. Not that he knows what was needed to be discussed; just the fact that the old man kept pushing the event was reminding him how annoying weekly Jounin meetings can be.

Tsunade always forced him to attend those meetings, she said it was to familiarize himself to the elite members of their shinobi forces and meet newly promoted Jounin as well as to get to know your peers, (Jounin population has a tendency to be low so organizing meetings with them was easier). Of course, that was the formal gist of it, Naruto was quite sure that Tsunade only wanted to torture him with the people inside through sheer annoyance. It's not like he was annoyed by the weekly meetings, it was a gathering, so he expected it to have something close to a casual party and some drinks. It's just that lots of the members of that particular rank were nutcases. There was simply something eccentric about each and every one of the Jounin he personally had a chance to talk to.

Even Neji, who he thought to be the sanest Jounin in the village, had some form of obsession when it comes to his hair.

'**Speak for yourself, brat. You didn't fall far from the tree like the rest of those flesh bags.' **

Naruto's face frowned at this as he and Konohamaru walked towards the designated meeting place.

'**What, after a year of slumbering and not seeing your ugly face, that's all I get from you?'**

'_Kyuubi… I was wondering when you were about to wake up. Somehow I missed your putdowns and insults during the year I was drawing doodles.'_

'**Cheeky little brat. ****I was recovering from a forced extraction. Even with my power, it takes time to get adjusted once more into your system. You try to feel your limbs being forcibly removed and slammed back again into you after just being taken out. Thanks to you using my chakra, you woke me up. I'd have thank you if it weren't for the fact that you're my warden.'**

'_And here I was thinking that you were actually getting soft.'_

'**You would do well to never speak of that in front of me ever again, brat. ****It's enough that you've humiliated me and stole my chakra, but to imply that I am considering my stance as the prisoner of this place is something that won't ever happen. Limiting your abilities is enough, if it weren't for that accursed Sage Mode, draining you of your chakra would have been easier.'**

'_I thought you were all about this whole, keep-my-prisoner-alive business.'_

The Nine tailed fox exhaled some air from its snout and turned its head from the cage, avoiding Naruto's smirk. Anymore and he would have snapped.

'**Corrupting you was a miscalculation on my part. You actively rejected my offering back then a****nd so I approached a different tactic. I would have never guessed that you would siphon chakra from around you that it would impede me from letting me out sooner. I would have also never guessed that your accursed progenitor would have made countless back up plans to your seal. It was better that I just let this happen, see through it to the end of your human lifespan.'**

'_Giving up on your freedom?'_

'**Not in the slightest. I've been alive for more than a thousand years. A century is nothing to me.'**

'_Damn, and here I was thinking that you've succumbed to your situation and allow me to use your abilities in maximum.'_

'**Brat, no one, and I mean no one, will ever be able to hold my power, it is mine alone and mine forever. You will never grasp it, so long as I will it so. No****w begone, wretched vermin, I have nothing to discuss further with you.'**

And with that, Naruto's attention was brought back to where they were going, meeting up with the other magically aware people in the campus. Along the way, they had managed to meet up with Negi and Setsuna who both looking quite distressed when Naruto was walking with them, grinning from ear to ear.

Not one to miss on Negi's slight discomfort, the blonde tilted his head to the side and asked the red head, "Something wrong, Negi?"

Negi looked to his side, uncertainty obvious in his expression at something but then found the courage to speak, "Nii-san, what were you doing at the very bottom of the island?"

Naruto looked at Konohamaru who was avoiding his gaze and then back at Negi, anxious to get an answer.

The red head looked expectant, and somewhat scared? He had to note that he had been releasing quite a bit of chakra earlier. So in a way, he blew his own cover.

"It's just some errands for the dean. You would not believe what that old coot has me do." He answered, as he ruffled the kids head with a smile.

"What about that energy? Nagase-san came by earlier to see if something was wrong and explained to us all about it." Negi asked some more and Naruto raised his eyebrow at this. Konohamaru meanwhile, decided to keep quiet about the whole thing.

"Oh, that. Well, it's something very few people in my world can do. What it is, I can't tell. I can't breach that line of confidentiality so easily. Sorry, kid, I'm just not cut out to tell you about it, maybe someday, I will but not now." Naruto said as they rounded up to a corner.

Negi didn't know what to make of the situation. He had noticed the change in personality in Naruto these past few weeks. They were extremely subtle, but present nonetheless. Perhaps the only other person that could tell much of those changes was Konohamaru. He had been with Naruto far longer than the red head was. So even he must find Naruto's behaviour quite peculiar as well.

He had noticed that Naruto would often pour much more time in his work. He had been making much more seals, going to Evangeline's quite often and having talks with her on important matters that he wasn't allowed to hear, being constantly called by the dean for some things he didn't know. If one were to look at the blonde at the end of the day, the exhaustion present with Naruto only show itself in a small flicker and would fade just as fast when he focuses on his writing.

Not only that, Naruto would often disappear whenever he had the chance. Something even Konohamaru found annoying. Naruto was always present wherever you find him. But now his current routine was disrupted. By what, he had no answer. The blonde turned elusive, seemingly working himself to the bone day by day. He couldn't stay at a place longer than he wanted or needed to. He always had to be somewhere. There always had to be something he needed to do.

The only time Naruto had been relaxed and had fun at all was during the day out that the four of them had.

"Ah glad that you could make it. We were starting to get worried about you not coming to our little arranged meeting." Konoe mentioned while stroking his long beard as his subordinates turned their gazes at the group. To the members of the staff, Naruto and Konohamaru's faces were familiar, they were occasionally present on their meeting along with Negi after all and seeing as their age distinguished them from the rest of the workforce of the school, they were easily recognizable within their crowd.

Naruto looked around him, there were a few familiar faces he could see within the crowd, but there were a lot more people that he didn't recognize that were looking at him and Konohamaru rather curiously, the blonde merely shrugged and put his arms on the back of his head and asked Konoe in a casual tone.

"Not that I'm thrilled to have this here, but what exactly is the reason why we're doing this?"

Konoe, much more amused rather than annoyed, laughed heartily for his age at the boy's blunt manner of talking. Naruto wasn't exactly one to hold any form of tact when he speaks his mind.

Konohamaru quietly waved his hand at Kotaro and Takamichi who returned the gesture with a grin for the former and a smile from the latter.

"Naruto-nii! You said you'd teach me the secret in punching harder!" Kotaro helpfully reminded him, Naruto waved at the dog demon and grinned, "Don't worry about it I hadn't forgotten…"

Konohamaru looked suspiciously at the blonde for this and uttered, _'lies.'_

"… About your lecture on that, we'll discuss it once my schedule isn't demanding." Naruto answered, obviously caught red handed at this as Kotaro seemingly accepted the blonde's apology.

"Well then, people, let's start this meeting so that we can all prepare for the coming festival." Konoe began and looked at each and every magically aware members of his little group.

"I'm sure some of you may have heard by now the rumors that are going around the school about the World Tree's legend?" Konoe then looked up into the world tree as Kotaro answered, "Yeah, but I think it's just a really worthless thing, Legend of the World Tree's unrequited love? Sounds something you could read on some Shoujo Manga."

Naruto agreed in that point, "Yeah, that DOES sound pretty convenient even if it is magic. From what I've learned there can be as much limitation there is in magic as there is in jutsu."

A blonde haired girl, with emerald eyes and wearing a black version of the girls uniform affirmed that, "That would be the case, but little is known about the world tree except that it houses a great amount of magical energy."

That seemed understandable enough, the World Tree was mysterious, and it had a lot of things even veteran magicians couldn't understand. So implanting suggestions turned out it couldn't quite happen, but it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities either.

Konohamaru then spoke, "There are however, certain situations that would likely sway a person's decision making ability depending to their emotional well being."

"Well that's true. Certain energy can be infectious in people's emotions." Negi pondered over this as Konoe explained, "The World Tree does not grant wishes that can be considered tangible or in massive effect. So something like world domination, a hundred billion yen or panties would be left not granted."

Naruto scratched his head at this and looked up at the world tree, "So this thing is able to suggest emotions that would benefit the situation. In this case, if a confession were to be made…"

"Precisely, the World Tree can do that. It can implant unnecessary suggestions in both memory and sensory function. This is the tree that would grant the love wished by one person, and it gives a very successful rate of a hundred and twenty percent!" Konoe explained this as he turned back to his subordinates who were either looking intently or were quite confused about the whole one hundred and twenty percent success rate. Naruto looked like he was pondering at this. He may be pretty horrible at his math, but he certainly wasn't THAT horrible. He has the basics down decently but not up to par with his peers, unfortunately.

"Wow, a hundred and twenty percent? That's like saying out of one hundred people twenty of them fell in love with each other, suggesting that they may all have…"

Setsuna cut off the blonde at that statement by slamming her hand on the blonde's mouth, effectively blushing at the idea of what Naruto MIGHT have suggested out loud.

Everyone gawked at Naruto while Negi and Kotaro looked in confusion. Konohamaru had slapped a palm on his face and shook his head in embarrassment.

"I can't believe he's my idol."

"Setsuna-san, why did you have to disrupt nii-san like that? Is it something bad?"

Setsuna stammered at this the rest of the people who were listening to the discussion, quickly turned away from the scene and left Setsuna to explain about it.

"I-It's nothing really THAT concerning, Negi-sensei, it's just that it isn't the time to be discussing such things." Setsuna tried to find a way out of this particular situation when she turned to Konohamaru who vehemently shook his head when Setsuna told him to come up with something.

Kotaro looked confused at this as he then asked, "Huh? I didn't think it wasn't THAT out of the topic, I want to know what Aniki said!"

By now, the people around them were looking at Setsuna with sympathy who was still being peppered with Negi and Kotaro's questioning. Chamo, who had no sense of decency when it comes to these things, answered for Naruto.

"Ah, Negi-aniki, what Naruto-aniki was suggesting was that…"

The blonde haired woman sent Chamo a glare that somehow burned his soul into eternal damnation.

"You will tell no such thing to the children." If her voice were actually filled with some type of venom, Chamo would have already stopped breathing or turned into a puddle of his own flesh.

While the white Ermine was sweating bullets, Naruto had somehow escaped Setsuna's grasp and admitted his fault, "Right, sorry, my bad, there were children here. Sometimes I really need to stop thinking out loud."

"Why is it that the older kids get to know this and we don't?" Kotaro asked out loud this time, annoyed by the fact that he had been left hanging for information once again. Konohamaru simply answered bluntly, "Because you're still too young to know this, you'll get your chance when you're older."

Konoe, who looked amused at the interaction, merely hand waved Naruto's mistake and continued, "The world tree has this phenomenon for every twenty-two years. But because of changes in climate patterns, this came sooner than expected."

Then, with a wave of his hand, a diagram appeared out of thin air, it was a picture of the tree, in the center of a six pointed star.

"From the world tree in the center, six points around it gather its strong magical power. This Plaza is one of those places."

"But isn't experiencing young love normal?" Negi refuted, Konohamaru shook his head solemnly at this.

"Sorry, Negi, but that isn't what you'd call true emotion." The brunette said and Naruto gave a sagely nod.

"Yeah, it's more like a forced relationship with the recipient being sent unknowingly into some sort of servitude." Naruto mentioned.

Setsuna had her eyebrow raised and uneasily remarked, "Well if you put it that way…"

"It's rather ludicrous to think of such things, Negi-sensei, remember that the underlying principle for a magic user is completely opposite. A person needs permanence to manipulate their spirit. But if love isn't there, one person becomes a slave if the person they love cannot shoulder the burden and the situation… Becomes rather unpleasant, wouldn't you agree?" Konoe remarked

Negi looked like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar as he fidgeted nervously. Making Love Potions are illegal after all, not that any of them needed to hear that. Konoe, who found Negi's actions peculiar, asked why he was acting that way while Chamo covered for him.

Konoe had let this go, Negi was a child after all, and although a mage, his mind was still young. Konoe then spoke once more, informing them of the situation.

"A considerable amount of rumors had already spread through the pupils." He mentioned with dread.

Many of the people inside were now sighing in exasperation. Their jobs just grew a lot harder. Who knows how many poor saps will try their hand on the whole thing just to see if it was true?

Konohamaru and Naruto were listening to the briefings coming from the woman with the book as she explained the societies and clubs that have uncovered this whole thing.

"Wow, this feels like a mission all over again. I'm getting excited about this all of a sudden." Naruto said this as his grin grew wider.

The blonde girl that threatened Chamo earlier grew a tick mark at the back of her ear as she reprimanded her fellow blonde, "This isn't a game, please take this seriously."

Her voice was filled with annoyance, but her tone was mostly subdued. Civility was the way to be a proper lady, after all.

Naruto, who by now noticed the stunning woman, merely tilted his head to the side at the woman's stern lecture.

"What? I was taking it seriously. It's just that it's been a while since I had a very exciting mission." Naruto sheepishly replied with a grin, the girl merely gave a 'humph' to his laid back response.

"It's awkward from the start of the school festival until the closing day because at this stage; the effects will begin to appear. We need to watch out for malicious pupils confessing at these six places." Konoe said and faced the crowd once more. Konohamaru shrugged.

"Well, I don't know about malicious intent coming from the students, but I think this is something worth watching out for."

"That reminds me." Konoe mentioned as he went over to Naruto, Konohamaru and Negi.

"You three should watch out for yourselves."

With that, all three of them looked like they didn't know what the heck the old man was talking about. And they wouldn't think of it any further when the girl with the broom muttered very close to Konoe.

"We're being watched."

And as swift as a bullet, a concentrated projectile of pure magic escaped from one of the staff members' right hitting the drone that was in midair shattering it completely.

They all looked up and Naruto took quick notice of Sayo who looked like a deer in the headlights.

Naruto motioned for Sayo to come down from where she was and asked her with a raised eyebrow, "Okay, Sayo, mind telling me what you're doing here?"

Sayo looked at her side to where Asakura was currently hiding. It never went unnoticed by the two ninja. Although Konohamaru was about to walk over to that area, Naruto stopped him dead in his tracks by grabbing his shoulder and telling him to stand down for the ghost girl.

Konohamaru, who had never once in his life believed in ghosts or things that involve the supernatural, still found it hard to comprehend that an actual ghost was in their presence. He looked at the girl rather expectantly, waiting for her to answer when she looked somewhat non-compliant. Naruto quickly noticed this in her behaviour and could only come up with one answer as to why Sayo never once moved her lips to speak.

Apparently, Sayo was covering up for someone as she refused to talk about it when she noticed the people around them were on high alert. Naruto took note of this, it seemed Sayo had found someone to befriend.

"Nevermind, we'll ask later. Right now, that spy drone is more important." Naruto stated as he let the whole situation go for now.

"My, my, our students are getting craftier and craftier by the day. I think they're on to us." Takamichi stated while another remarked, "Well that's not good."

Konoe then gave them their schedules during the festival.

"We'll be taking patrol shifts starting from today until the end of the festival. You have your orders." With that, the old man dismissed the people he had called for and immediately, the magic that was set up earlier, vanished.

People then began to slowly flock at the plaza as the members slipped into the crowd and vanished.

Naruto and Konohamaru did the same, although Naruto allowed Konohamaru to track down whoever was the one to place the drone near the place. Naruto simply gestured for Sayo to go before they remember to question her.

Grateful for the blonde's gesture, Sayo bowed deeply in front of the blonde and gave flew off after she did so.

"Are you sure about letting Sayo go, Naruto-sensei?" Setsuna asked, the blonde teacher smiled and explained to Setsuna.

"She was protecting someone. I don't know about you, but I feel it's worth it to let her go. She deserves this much for being such a determined girl. I admire her for it." Naruto said this as they went for a walk around the campus. Setsuna stopped her train of thought for a moment and finally, she too smiled. She understood what Naruto meant and she too, soon admired what Sayo was doing.

It took awhile for Sayo to have friends, she was always alone and nobody paid attention to her, when she made herself known, it was such a chaotic mess at first that Sayo was ready to disappear. She wanted to have friends, really, because treading the grounds for someone to notice the ghost of a dead girl made her almost unnoticed towards the people spiritually or magically unaware. But after the explanation of a huge misunderstanding, she gained some companions on her own. In her words, she told Setsuna why she had the guts to appear to them.

'_Naruto-sensei said, that if I show what courage I have to other people, they'll be my friends! They'll__ see me and they'll understand me!'_

It was simple, yet somehow, it made so much sense. And Naruto, before he could put priority to the school's reputation, prioritized his students first. He didn't want to take away the result of Sayo's little courage like that. It was too cruel of him to do so. So he did what only a man of his thinking should do, he put his faith on the girl.

Her thoughts were disrupted however, when a loud crash and the toppling of fresh fruits and baskets were heard near their side.

"Damn, that hurt!" A familiar voice shouted and out of the mess, Konohamaru had appeared and in his arms, was Chao, seemingly unharmed.

Chao then pleaded to the red headed teacher, "Negi-sensei! Can you help me? Suspicious people are chasing me!"

"What's this all about?" Naruto asked as he looked around, quickly noticing the humanoid like creatures running at them almost unnoticeable in the crowd.

"No time! I'll explain on the way!" Konohamaru shouted as he grabbed Chao by the arms and lifted her up, dashing away into the crowd with the rest following suit. They jumped from wall to wall, with the suspicious looking group soon giving chase.

Once they were on the roof, Naruto flicked his right hand and a kunai appeared from his sleeve. The blonde held his weapon in a reverse grip. It was then that Chao spoke in the midst of their jumps, "The truth is I'm being chased by an evil magician!"

Naruto wanted to ask what motive this person had if he was chasing Chao. But held it off when three humanoid like creatures jumped from the other roof after literally appearing from it. Setsuna parried them with her sheathed Nodachi followed suit by Konohamaru who was carrying the Chinese girl.

Chamo had a scowl on his face as he said to Negi, "Aniki, it's pretty obvious now."

Negi gave a nod to affirm what Chamo had deduced. The person they were facing was a western mage.

'_But why would a western mage…'_ Negi's thoughts were immediately cut off when the men in black clothing went back to them.

Setsuna asked her companions at this, "Should we fight back?"

Kotaro gave a simple but toothy grin, highlighting his elongated fangs. The thrill of a fight was making him feel on edge.

"These things are like my Inugami Tsukai, putting them down is okay." Kotaro mentioned this with nothing but an amused tone.

Naruto quickly grabbed a smoke bomb from his pocket and dropped it on the ground, effectively concealing them from the sight of their enemies.

When the cloaked figures entered the smoke and their vision obstructed, the blonde shouted as loud as he can and commanded the others, "Start your counter-attack now!"

Almost immediately, the people that the cloaked wearing assailants thought were inside the smoke, appeared outside and pounced on them like wolverines, tearing them apart and quickly decimating their assailants.

Konohamaru, who had by then left Chao alone to get into the fray, was the first to act by activating his Doton: Domu. He smashed his way to the first two with a powerful clothesline that ripped them apart. Kotaro was next after performing a straight flying kick and flipping over the familiar's head before kicking the man's nape effectively destroying it.

Setsuna came in after, her dash was straight forward enough as she slashed her enemy after enemy. Her Nodachi glistening into the sun as it reflected its rays on it, performing a well crafted yet deadly dance around her foe.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" The smoke cleared, around the area, as the said smog covered only the outer ring, fully exposing them from up high. The tweaked jutsu adjusted the flow of the smoke as Naruto came in next jumping down below and smashing one on to the roof while kicking another one with a reverse heel kick on the person's chest sending it flying from the cloud of smoke. Naruto then spun and turned around; striking another with his elbow and finished with a direct palm strike that sent another flying as well. Naruto didn't forget the other one he had stepped on so he lifted the person up sent him away with Naruto performing a hip toss.

"Sagitta Magica Serius Lucis (Magical Barrage: Seventeen Arrows of Light)!"

Seventeen rays of light then escaped from Negi as he aimed his magic upwards towards where Naruto sent the puppets flying and with that, all seventeen of them bombarded the targets without mercy.

**BOOM!**

They all paused for a moment before Konohamaru spoke, "It would be bad if we stay around here, we need to get to somewhere safe then we can ask for questions."

All of them agreed to that and escaped through an empty alley so that they could talk.

"Now that we escaped from their sights for the moment, I'd like to hear as to why Chao was being chased by this 'evil magician'." Naruto meant to ask this to both Chao and Konohamaru. The brunette shrugged and had no idea as well. The heat of the battle prevented him from asking earlier.

"I don't think we're completely out of range yet." Setsuna warned, her eyes darting to her left, hand on her sword's handle once more.

"The one controlling them must be nearby."

Chao looked honestly surprised at this but commented nonetheless, "Everyone was so strong, I was actually surprised, ne. In this era, there's still this many people that can fight so well without the aid of firearms."

Chao then approached Negi and gave the redhead a thumbs-up, "To perform magic and release it like fireworks, as expected of Negi-sensei!"

Negi scratched the back of his head at this and looked rather embarrassed, "Chao-san, it seems you know a lot about magic."

"Oh, well, a little, ne." She replied, a little too coy.

"Who exactly was chasing you?" Negi asked, obviously wanting to get down to the bottom of this little scuffle.

"More importantly, why?" Konohamaru interjected. There had to be a reason why they were chasing this girl. Did she know something they don't?

To this question, Chao flinched a little. Konohamaru easily caught on to that body language but decided not to ask her about it. He would have to ask Naruto instead.

Setsuna then told them to keep quiet.

"It seems that they already know of our location." Setsuna mentioned as Kotaro grinned.

"Three of them, in fact, one on the roof, the other two are fifty to eighty meters away from here, on either side of the alley. They have this place surrounded." Kotaro mentioned this to them.

"They're planning an ambush…" Naruto told this as he cupped his chin to think. An idea sprang forth from his mind and grinned.

"Konohamaru, ambush-counter number three…" Naruto simply said this as a small bubble of distorted space appeared before him before vanishing in a yellow flash.

"What does he mean by that, Konohamaru-nii-san?" Asked the red head, the brunette simply answered.

"Just sit here and keep Chao safe. Setsuna, take the person on the roof." Konohamaru then used a simple Shunshin to get out of sight and only left behind a cloud of smoke.

Out into the crowd and into the roof, the three assailants stopped dead in their tracks when two out of the five of them vanished into thin air.

No, there was only one that vanished; the other was moving at an incredibly fast pace.

By now, Chamo had blocked any and all telepathy spells with his magic.

Takane was not having a good day; she couldn't have found a more laid back person in her life than the one she had just talked to earlier. Was that the new staff member that Takahata-sensei had been referring? He certainly did look the part, but his attitude leaves much to be desired. That and he didn't take the situation seriously. The person had never even introduced himself. He was very rude if she could put it to words. That man wouldn't survive for another decade if he kept his attitude up, genius or no genius.

"I would stop here if I were you."

The voice threatened. It sounded familiar, but it held no ease to her. She felt a very cold and sharp object resting on her neck. It was close. An arm then wrapped itself just above her chest, disabling her arms to do anything since her shoulders were affected, if she were in a normal position, she would be flustered.

She was suddenly pulled back in an empty alley, one different from the place she was supposed to go to as her hands shivered from the danger that she was feeling.

Her eyes looked down; cold sweat escaping from her as she finally noticed the knife very close to her neck.

"You're after one of the students. Who are you and what do you want?"

"T-Takane D. Goodman… Senior, Mahora Academy. I'm here to arrest the culprit, Chao Lingshen on suspicious grounds that she has violated one of the rules by releasing information concerning the magical world."

Naruto eased the grip of his kunai and dropped it. He then forced Takane to turn around to face him and shouted very loud.

"SAY WHAT?"

* * *

To be continued…

Heh, it's been a while again. I've been busy with all the projects and stuff around here that I couldn't find the time to write. Though I really, really WANTED so bad to skip this chapter and you can see some significant parts that I obviously omitted since I wanted the Festival to get rolling already. I already have the perfect design and abilities for Naruto's pactio. For Konohamaru's, I'm still thinking about it and no, I'm not using claymores, katanas, broadswords, zanbatous, or ANY sword and especially NOT firearms for Naruto's main pactio, what it is, you'll just have to wait along with WHO the pactio partner is. It certainly won't be Negi or Konoka and I'm still undecided with Eva. And as you can see here, I've explained some things that may intrigue you on the alternate dimension thing.

Regarding Naruto and Kyuubi:

Naruto and the Kyuubi have this cutthroat relationship to begin with. Naruto hates the Kyuubi as does the Kyuubi to Naruto. But Kyuubi respects Naruto's abilities, it's just that he had no intention of letting Naruto earn his power because he doesn't want to let Naruto do it. The reason being he's a complete bastard with no sense of pity or mercy and that Naruto, like it or not, utterly humiliated him by taking his chakra and taming it.

another author's note: Guess who Naruto's counterpart is.

Preview:

"_You mean to tell me that Chao was violating the school rules on the ground that she's been leaking about Magic to outsiders?" Naruto asked, incredulous at that fact_

"_Yes and because of this, the school is concerned about what may happen if the world of outsiders discover and believe this. Wars can and will happen if Magic becomes a commodity just look at the past wars triggered by petty disputes. Do you see the reasoning behind it?"_

"_I do."_

_A smile graced Takane's lips as Naruto finally understood the implications of leaking magic to the rest of the world._

"_But I should let you know, from where I come from, jutsu is very common knowledge. So before I side with anyone in this, I think it's a safe bet to let Negi decide what to do with HIS student. You all don't have the authority over that." Naruto reminded her, seemingly turning his back from her site and vanishing after a bubble of time and space, bent and swallowed him, leaving behind a trail of a yellow flash._


	22. Prelude to Love and Festivals Part 1

Unwanted Travelling

* * *

Chapter Twenty-Two: Prelude to Love and Festivals Part 1

"SAY WHAT?"

What the hell? Chao was running from the _law_? Somehow, that seemed impossible to believe. But here was a woman, a part of their little society, who was hounding after one of his students because she was about to tattle the biggest secret of this academy to the world, somehow, it got Naruto's alarm bells in his head flaring loudly. Something was definitely wrong in this picture.

"What is going on here?" He asked once more.

"Chao Ling Shen has more than once violated the rule of never exposing magic to the outside world. We've given her three warnings already that warrants for a memory wipe. Don't you know this?" Takane questioned, blushing as she adjusted her dress ever so slightly, she was pulled into the alley by this ruffian and somehow, her left sleeve slipped off from her shoulders, exposing her milky white skin and the small strap of her bra.

Naruto scowled, "I'm new to this place and even if I knew about her circumstance, I don't think its right without informing those that are in concern. The dean never said anything to me about this. It's only natural to assume that I had to fend you off of my student."

Takane frowned at that statement. Student...? This boy was a teacher? It seemed impossible, but then that ten year old boy she had been hearing about earlier was a teacher as well.

So this WAS the new staff member. How was he able to disappear like that and bypassing their detection abilities? That was some powerful magic he used, like he had somehow erased his own existence and reappeared to where he had desired to appear. Not only that, he had caught her off guard. Something tells her this boy is much more than he seems.

Naruto took a deep breath as he calmed down, adrenalin slowly deactivating in his system, he slipped his kunai back into his sleeve and asked Takane, "You mean to tell me that Chao has been violating the school rule on the ground that she's been leaking information about magic to outsiders?"

Takane nodded.

This wasn't good. Of that, he knew personally. He had to be careful of treading with the genius girl, how much did she know? Who was able to provide her with such intelligence? Was any info directed to him involved? If that were the case, the girl was dangerous if her tongue suddenly slips and tells info about his background. Naruto had the sudden urge to shiver.

No, he shouldn't think of this. He had been working hard to keep information about his and Konohamaru's origin a secret. It shouldn't be possible outside a small circle of people to know of his background.

"Because of this, the school is concerned about what may happen if the world of outsiders discover and believe it. Wars can and will happen if magic becomes a commodity to the people around us. I don't see the need to tell you that wars were started for much more petty reasons."

Naruto didn't need her lecture about it. He had already lived through a war and it wasn't for petty reasons either.

"Now do you understand the reasoning behind it?" She asked.

A silent pause escaped between the two as Naruto turned his head towards where the crowd was walking, it seemed like he was contemplating what Takane said to him.

"I do." Naruto finally answered as his blue eyes showed his serious expression. Takane was slightly taken a back with the boy's admittedly beautiful blue eyes. To her, it seemed like he just projected his soul to her, telling her that he knew that much. A smile had escaped her lips at this. But her smile slipped when he answered her.

"I do but I should let you know…" Naruto then turned his back from the woman as a small bubble of distorted space appeared before him with Naruto's hands still in his pockets.

"From where I come from, jutsu is very common knowledge. So before I side with anyone in this, I think it's a safe bet to let Negi decide what to do with HIS student. You all don't have the authority over that." Naruto reminded her, seemingly turning his back from her site and vanishing after a bubble of time and space, bent and swallowed him, leaving behind with nothing but a yellow flash.

Takane merely stepped back once more, her back against the wall as she finally understood how the new guy was able to disappear from her senses and suddenly appear from her side. The boy was able to manipulate and fold time and space to a certain degree.

Certainly, that high level of magic should be praised. So how come she had never heard about him till now?

Because that was surely a high level spell that he did, with no medium, and such a sudden movement, it would be dangerous to get on his bad side.

* * *

At the same time with Konohamaru:

Although he didn't know what the assailant looked like, he should at least be able to pinpoint someone who stands out in the crowd. Someone who would look slightly concerned, unnerved now with Chamo disturbing the telepathic link. Jumping from wall to wall, Konohamaru made sure he remained unseen by the crowd. People don't normally look up unless something gets their attention. Konohamaru knew of this basic human behaviour and he took advantage of this common human error. He remained scouring around the roof, unnoticed and keeping his chakra flaring to a minimum to avoid detection. He could see a girl with red hair struggling in the crowd. She looked panicked as she made her way around carrying a broom. Konohamaru watched in silent observation as she struggled to find her way to the side. She glanced sideways before taking a deep breath and held the broom close to her.

The young chuunin had found his target and she was prone to him at this moment. She had somewhat let her guard down with that sigh of relief and Konohamaru took this chance to strike.

Landing on the ground where few people were, Konohamaru carefully made his way towards the alley where the girl went and leaned on the wall, perpendicularly aligned with hers. His breath became shallow as it slowed down, his senses blaring in full alert and his hand going dangerously close to his back pocket.

"This is bad… I need to know what happened with the others. But there's something blocking the telepathy spell. Then there's that person that went here too."

He heard the girl murmur as she looked distressed thus confirming Konohamaru's assumptions.

The girl then went out of the small alley and unknowingly went past her pursuer.

"Stop right there." Konohamaru mentioned as the girl paused as a sudden shiver ran up and down her spine. She shuddered when she heard the voice of a boy approach her and held her shoulder.

"From this position, I can target your spine, your heart and neck. If you don't want something ugly to happen, stop whatever form of counter-attack you're planning." He continued and to emphasize his point, Konohamaru poked her back with his index and middle fingers.

Mei instantly shivered.

She had been caught. It was then that she feared for what was to come. What would this person do to him? His words were absolutely terrifying and she had hoped this person was merely bluffing, she couldn't see her attacker's face yet her fear was reaching to insane levels. Whoever this person was, he was a professional to have caught her like that.

Sweat dripped from her forehead as she thought of what kind of torture would she be experiencing or whatever tactic he would use to break her. She suddenly grew pale as her terrified expression became a telltale sign of panic.

"Calm down. I won't do anything bad to you. So could you answer some of my questions?"

His words were reassuring yet it held she couldn't find it in herself to trust him.

How much of it was true? Would she have this person's word?

"First tell me your name and then tell me why you're after my student." The voice commanded.

That was all it took for the girl to spill all the information that Konohamaru needed.

* * *

A while later:

The swirling and distortion of space indicated the coming of one Uzumaki Naruto. Negi, Chao and Kotaro watched in silent fascination, as the vacuum like object pushed Naruto out of it with a mere pop. The blonde unceremoniously landed and scratched his head.

"Hmm… Needs more improvement, tweaking the vacuum doesn't make the whole thing extend its range; it just sends you out faster." Naruto said thoughtlessly as he scratched his hair with both hands out of frustration!

It's not that he wasn't aware of the situation but his one track mind had to see to it what problem he was currently facing right now.

"Ah, damn it! Why'd this have to be so damn difficult?" Naruto shouted, almost forgetting the fact that the boys were watching him. His thoughts however, were immediately cut off

"Ah, Naruto-sensei, was that possibly a time-space teleportation spell?" Chao asked. Her eyes looked like something had sparked in them with a wild and raging fire dancing all about.

Naruto, who had just suddenly remembered who he was talking to, took a step back all of a sudden as he had become wary of the girl.

'_She knows too much.'_ Naruto thought, and with what he had acquired earlier, he could feel his troubles raising some more as Chao ever edged closer to him. Still, he couldn't let Chao know about this, he couldn't let the girl know about the secrets that he had. That type of consequence would be worse than fatal.

"Yeah, though the thing still needs a lot of work for me to really pull it off."

Naruto knew he was treading on very thin ice on his own here. Chao was a smart girl, that much he knew. And he knew how smart people like her tend to manipulate the conversation to suit them.

"What's wrong, Naruto-sensei?" Chao asked with obvious concern and Naruto suddenly stiffened. The blonde shook his head robotically and said to the girl, "N-Nothing, just having some thoughts about my Hiraishin!"

The girl had a raised eyebrow at this and looked at Naruto closely before finally looking convinced.

"Why are they after Chao-san, Naruto-nii-san?" Negi asked in concern, Naruto only looked at his side and said to the red head, "You'll find out soon enough."

As if on cue, Takane had come out of the corner looking slightly dishevelled while a fidgeting Mei with Konohamaru slightly farther back appeared from another side. They couldn't tell exactly why the girl was a little jumpy when they appeared but Naruto and Kotaro could tell that Konohamaru somehow had pointed his weapon at the girl.

"Doing it a little too much aren't you, Konohamaru?" Naruto asked rhetorically at the brunette while wearing an amused smirk on his face. The brunette simply scoffed it off and said to his master, "If they were capable of assaulting us with those puppets then I'm capable of dishing out the same amount of pain as well. Also, you're one to talk considering you used Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Naruto simply turned his head in indignation as he pouted, "Hey! I'll have you know my Hiraishin no Jutsu isn't as strong as what you think! It's still far from being a jutsu that can compare to its original!"

"Whatever." Konohamaru had Naruto's hypocrisy noted. The blonde, just like a kid that wanted to prove something, shook furiously and shouted once more, "IT'S TRUE, GODDAMN IT!"

Proving his point, Naruto was instantly swallowed by the portal he had created and reappeared right behind Takane and spanked her butt causing her to jump in surprise, "Look! If it was as powerful as you say, then something would have happened to Takane already!"

As if he just tempted fate, Naruto was about to receive a slap on the face when he warped back in front of the brunette, the slap that Takane was about to deliver only met with thin air as Takane lost her balance and fell down.

"Besides, this thing is almost useless! The distance in this thing is too short! I can't even use this to get to the office!" Naruto ranted on and on while Takane was shaking in frustration. Konohamaru stepped back as she saw the other blonde walking ever so slowly at Naruto who was oblivious to her impending approach, looked at Konohamaru who was sporting an expression that reminded him of his face whenever he did something to annoy Sakura. Naruto blinked once then twice then slightly bent down at Konohamaru's eye level, barely and unknowingly evading Takane's swipe at him. The girl lost her balance once more and fell down on the ground. A look of irritation etched across her face.

"T-This guy feels like he has a pair of eyes at the back of his head!" Takane shouted in utter frustration as Naruto, who had then turned around and notice Takane on the ground.

"What are you doing there, Takane?" Naruto asked while everyone had a bead of sweat at the back of their heads as they watched the scenario unfold.

Up on the roof, Gandalfini and Setsuna were looking down with amusement on the former and exasperation on the latter.

"That guy…" Gandalfini mentioned with a smirk as he looked over to the student that was shaking her head.

"Sure is hopeless…" Setsuna continued as they watched from the rooftop as Naruto finally did receive that slap to the face.

"I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! Not only was I toyed with like a second string amateur, you shamelessly d-did that to me!" Takane shouted in outrage while the blonde rubbed his reddening cheek.

"Ow, that stung." The blonde remarked as Takane began shouting once more, "I would have done more you, you, deviant!"

Naruto instantly defended himself at this, "Hey, I'm not a deviant. I'm just being a man!"

By this time, Takane's face was a newer shade of red that blood looked paler than her. If one would peer from outside their conversation, it was as if Takane had taken the worst part of sun bathing in the middle of the dessert.

"PERVERT! The worst kind! The worst!" Takane said in outburst, by this time, many of the people who were looking at the two were slack jawed

"I think it's about time we put an end to this. Anymore coming out of Naruto-sensei's mouth and Takane-san might experience an aneurysm." Gandalfini curtly informed the swordswoman with an amused smirk plastered on his face. Who would have thought that Takane could be so riled up against this person?

After their explanation and a few surprises laid about why Chao was captured, Konohamaru and Naruto watched in with mild-interest at what Negi was about to answer. The red head looked at his male peers with a troubled expression concerning the whole matter.

For Konohamaru, this was a telltale sign that Negi was waiting for any answer that might help him. Obviously, he was conflicted with the news and Chao's well being. He wanted to say something to Negi to man up but he stopped as Naruto shook his head. From his knowing smile, the brunette could tell that Negi was undecided on the matter. He couldn't find that one thing that he felt that he needed to do about the whole thing.

Naruto, knowing Negi's dilemma, simply grinned at the red head, "It's up to you, Negi. I can't always hold your hand."

The red head remained frozen in his place as he felt a sudden chill with the blonde words. How time flies so fast, he felt as if the person he considered an older brother was slowly slipping away, letting him decide on matters that he couldn't possibly take.

But Naruto thought differently, he was sure that Negi needed to grow up if he wanted to enter in this world. And with the recent amount of stuff that has come up after the events of two months ago, he was now positive about what Negi needed to do.

He would need to make decisions on his own because he and Evangeline wouldn't be there to the kid before the end of the school year. In Konohamaru, he had faith. But in Negi, a kid who he had only met in two months, he wasn't sure.

But Naruto had hope.

He had hoped that Negi, the boy who never gave up, would eventually stand on his own and man up to the challenges ahead of him. The red head interested him in that aspect because of how he and Negi were so alike in that attitude. They were stubborn and they never back down.

With a firm expression and an iron will, Negi who had earlier looked uncertain, suddenly looked determined. His hands were balled into fists as he turned his gaze to Gandalfini.

"Chao-san is my responsibility. Please, let's not resort to a memory wipe all of a sudden. I have not heard of this particular detail coming from the others, therefore I can't just agree with what you all just said. I'll make sure she behaves herself and won't let her tell about magic to outsiders."

Gandalfini, who had been looking at Negi who seemed unsure, now noticed that fierce look he had in his eyes. The sharp frown that Negi displayed was a clear contrast to the small, round spectacles he wore.

Somehow, the older mage looked convinced.

With a smile, he turned his back from the group and said, "Very well, Negi-sensei. I'm holding you responsible for Chao right now. However, if she does disobey the rules once more, I'm sure you know what that responsibility entails."

Negi, who had just realized the implications of his words, suddenly paled at what he said when Gandalfini reminded him of his choice. He felt like backing down from it all of a sudden, until someone reassured him with a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, you heard Negi-sensei. I suggest you back down for now because we all don't have the authority over the class advisor." Naruto reminded them. And with a simple smirk coming from Gandalfini, the trio walked away from their sights.

Once they were completely out of sight, Negi let out a huge sigh of relief as he felt his knees buckle a little from the encounter. He was now responsible for Chao, so whatever Chao does that would cause enough trouble in the near future, he would have to take a form of the punishment, like being turned into an ermine for example.

Negi swallowed hard at that implication and felt like slapping himself from such an outlandish statement.

"Negi-sensei, thank you for helping me out there earlier!" Chao suddenly interrupted with a smile on her face as she appeared right in front of Negi. The red head simply looked at the girl with weary eyes and muttered, "I really hope you don't do anything that would get both of us in trouble, Chao-san. Keeping you all in line is already difficult work. Not to mention the punishment that they will give to me…"

Negi trailed off and turned as pale as Chamo's white fur. He was really not looking too sure of himself out there just now.

"Not to worry, Negi-sensei! I'll be sure to keep it in mind!" Chao mentioned and grabbed something from her pocket. She quickly handed the object over to the red head and bowed.

"Here, as a token of my gratitude, I'm giving you this to help you with any of your troubles! This is the Chao Ling Shen's power of science!"

Negi took a good look at the present that Chao gave him.

It was an ornate looking pocket watch, covered in silver and chrome, the designs of the clock itself was rather expensive looking. He didn't know why she handed him a pocket watch, but unless it's just to tell time and to remind him how incredibly stupid it was to accept all of the invitations of his students, then he supposed that would be a rather insulting gift coming from the girl.

Naruto watched with careful eyes as Chao waved them a goodbye and went on her own. To his side, Konohamaru was doing the same, remaining silent and watched as Chao disappeared to who knows where. Once she was gone, Naruto looked at his apprentice with a nod of his own.

"Well, that takes care of that. How about we all get ready for the festival opening tonight?" Naruto helpfully inquired as the others nodded.

Naruto then walked away with Konohamaru as they went home. Along the way, the two were discussing serious matters about what just transpired.

"I know I'm stating the obvious right now, Konohamaru, but we need to be careful around Chao. You know why she's being chased down, right?"

The brunette nodded, "There's no telling if she has information on us, information that people here could exploit. I don't want to trigger something terrible that would be on my conscience. Does this mean that we'd better stop going to Chao Bao Zi?"

His master shook his head with a negative, "No. We're way too deep in this. If we suddenly stopped going there, we'd look suspicious on her. I know her kind. She's the type of person who would stop at nothing to get what she wants. For now, whenever we go there, we avoid questions when it comes to our background."

"What about Negi and the others?" Konohamaru asked and Naruto simply looked solemn, "Chao's violations should be a warning sign to Negi, but I doubt he would want to toss away his faith on the girl. At any case, we'll only interrupt when it's needed. This is Negi's problem and I wouldn't want to interrupt it by babysitting him or any of his allies."

Although he hated sitting by the sidelines for now, Konohamaru knew that Naruto was right. Whatever it was that would have to disturb Negi and the others, they would need that obstacle to grow. Much like how he would need to face more adversities just to grow stronger.

"What will we do if Chao DOES have any information that concerns about us? Gandalfini reminded us that Evangeline was working with Chao at one point." Konohamaru asked and Naruto remained silent for a moment. The thought had occurred to him, and quite frankly, he felt like a cornered rat just for that situation alone. If Chao did have information on them, then it would mean that trying to avoid her was useless and a full on confrontation was needed. Naruto stopped his walk at this and suddenly realized just how terrible his current standing was.

'_Shit! If Chao does know any information about Konohamaru and me, most likely she'll reveal__ it to the world as well! If that were to happen…'_

"**Your well kept secret here as my vessel will be exposed." **Kyuubi let out a small chuckle from inside its cage, making his presence known to the blonde and showing forth its sharp set of teeth to remind Naruto of his amusement.

"You can never be too sure." Naruto replied, turning into its cage and continued, "I'd like to think that she at least doesn't know about us. Evangeline facing a bijuu should have reminded her just how powerful your lot is and how serious the kind of threat that it gives."

The Kyuubi merely replied, **"You're saying as if that girl agrees with your sentiments, brat. I find that terribly misunderstood. You shouldn't have trusted her."**

"Maybe…"

Naruto could have only replied. The Kyuubi's eyes twitched ever so slightly at this and behind its golden cage, it sneered.

"**Is that doubt, I sense from you? Do I sense uneasiness rearing its head from you?" **The fox chided Naruto; for the first time in almost two years, his host was leaving himself wide open.

Naruto merely scowled at this, "It's my decision, stupid fox, and even if I made a mistake in that, I'd worry about it when the time comes. Of course, I do have my doubts about the whole thing in my situation, who wouldn't? But I can't act based on assumptions alone. I'm not the kid I was back then."

"**Yes, you aren't, it seems the carnage that you've went through sprouted a brain in that head of yours. ****You should be thankful for that, brat."**

"I'd be even more thankful if that war didn't happen. We could have all been a lot happier."

"**You speak as if you**** never benefitted from it. Did that war not break the isolation that the five villages have unknowingly imposed on your kind? Did that war not turn you into something that you've aspired? A hero? A living legend? A god? You delude yourself if you think otherwise."**

Naruto turned his head away from the fox in disgust and said with a subdued voice, "No one benefits in war. You may see it that way, but I don't."

"**Yet with that war, you've grown, you cast aside your selfish desire to be the alpha in order to stop one man. If it were anything else you would have still clung to that dream so foolishly." **The Kyuubi mentioned. His amusement was rising while watching his jailor squirm from the outside. If he couldn't consume him now, it didn't mean he couldn't torment him.

"So what if I did? And what if I still am?" Naruto asked, now feeling defensive, Kyuubi chuckled sinisterly. Even though now pinned and helpless from his cage, the fox still had ways to destroy his mind. It sounded as if the Kyuubi didn't find his sealing quite a problem.

"**Then you're grasping merely thin air. You may have saved the world, but you ignored your superiors. You ignored the order of the five leaders, the alpha of each major village. Do you know what that ****entails? You, who can't follow your superiors, have no right to be a superior yourself."**

It wasn't as if he didn't know that, Kyuubi was merely putting him in his place, a truth that he knows all too much.

"I know that already, you don't have to remind me. Like I said, it was do-or-die. No matter what I do both of my legs were already buried past my knees. But I've sacrificed that dream in order for others to live their lives. I've got no regrets in that. And if I have to do it again, I'll never even give it a second thought. Nevermind of what the others will think of me, I'll accomplish my dream and nothing is going to stop me."

This time, it was Kyuubi who turned around in disgust.

"**You and your sense of trust… Why you still live, I'm not sure anymore.****" **The Kyuubi then cast Naruto out of their little conversation, the nine tailed monster having had enough of his jailor's mentality.

Outside Naruto's mindscape, Konohamaru was looking at his master with a worried expression as the blonde was silent after he asked that question. They had managed to stop just right in front of their apartment. The blonde looked quite thoughtful as well.

"Naruto-nii, are you alright?" The brunette asked. The blonde, who was moments earlier, looked like he was in a trance, snapped out of the conversation as he shook his head.

"Yeah, I was just having a little conversation with my tenant." Naruto admitted. Konohamaru simply scowled at that.

"What'd he say?"

Naruto shook his head at this, "Nothing important. Don't worry about it, he has no influence on me now, remember?"

Somehow, Konohamaru wasn't satisfied with his answer. Naruto was about to touch the doorknob when Konohamaru stopped him.

"Before we go for the festival tonight, I want you to do something for me, Naruto-nii."

This raised Naruto's eyebrow a little. Konohamaru was asking him for a favor this time. If he remembered correctly the last time Konohamaru had asked him for a favor was at the start of his training, when he was officially taken in as Naruto's apprentice.

"Alright then, brat, shoot."

Konohamaru's frown then turned serious.

"Disrupt my chakra flow for the coming tournament." The brunette mentioned. Naruto, who by now was looking at the brunette with an expression that clearly looked like he was slack jawed, asked him.

"Oh yeah, that tournament, Kotaro had been harping about it for about a week, I supposed you signed us in, right? So, why request something like this?"

The brunette replied, "I want to see how I've come far in terms of Taijutsu alone."

Naruto shook his head, "But you're a versatile Ninjutsu user like me. You rely on both your techniques and your physical strength in battle, leaving you with one makes you a cripple."

Konohamaru replied, "I know and it's because of that, that I need to test myself. I've been ignoring Enma-sama's teachings as of late. I need to sharpen my skills again."

The blonde simply sighed at this and finally relented to Konohamaru's request.

"Fine then, just don't complain if this hurts." Naruto then gathered chakra on the tip of his fingers, the five main elements then formed beneath the flickering blue flames. This was the seal that disrupted his chakra flow back then at the chuunin exam. He had remembered having a hard time to concentrate his chakra control to acceptable levels back then, the water walking exercise proved to be one of his most frustrating chakra control techniques. The modified five element seal placed on Konohamaru's back was born out of the same principles as that of the Hakke Fuuin Shiki, in that it had an even number of characters that he placed on the brunette for a special purpose. This seal, the original Gogyo Fuuin (Five Element Seal), was an inhibitor, an odd numbered seal normally used on prisoners in order to disrupt chakra flow to their system making them unable to use any jutsu thus, preventing any form of escape.

"Take your shirt off and hope to God that this won't hurt, brat." Naruto said this while Konohamaru exposed his navel. Naruto instantly struck.

"Gogyo Fuuin!"

Konohamaru suddenly felt pain coursing throughout his body after that. He could feel the searing heat as if he was branded by a hot piece of newly forged steel. He cursed as the five characters of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth and Water began to form around his abdomen. The black ink slowly etching and forming a seal as lines crept all around them.

"How are you feeling?" Naruto asked and Konohamaru, not one to mince words, replied flatly.

"Like shit."

Konohamaru then stood up and winced. He grabbed the nearest thing he could find to ask as his support. He winced when he squeezed his stomach from the pain he was currently feeling. It really did hurt. Not only was it as painful as being branded, his muscles also felt like they were collapsing, buckling from the disrupted flow of chakra as it were.

"Yeah, it hurts for the first few hours. I've talked to Ero-Sennin once about this and he said the disruption is enough to feel as if you've been lifting a giant toad for over three hours. Quite a feat that you could stand, really, when I was hit, I was knocked out for almost a week. Though for all the right reasons, I have to ask you again, why? You're not a specialist, you're better off mixing jutsu on the fly. Being versatile is as good as being specialized since you have the element of surprise on your side."

The brunette rationalized his action, "I know that. It's why I wanted to do this. I can't improve if I take several things at a time. My hand-to-hand simply can't match something as simple yet as complicated as yours, Naruto-nii."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this, "That's because that style was largely on the fly, it's the style most of our comrades have that aren't specialized in Taijutsu. It's mainly an Anti-Sharingan type of fighting style since it relies heavily on numbers and going for very difficult angles that aren't normally in their range, you can tell the style was created with a lot of elbow grease. But if I face someone good in Taijutsu like Lee or Neji on pure hand to hand, I'd probably get my ass handed to me unless I go for Kawazu Kumite (Toad Sage Fist). Your style uses the natural forces around you, right? Physics and all of that shit combined with your acrobatics. In terms of pure and accessible Taijutsu, you're actually better than I am."

Konohamaru nodded, "Yeah but your style is still pretty up there."

"Only because I have the advantage of numbers and the experience of using Kage Bunshin to a degree that it became an art form for me."

After letting Konohamaru get used to his body for a while, the two began discussing about what to do with Chao in case she did have any information concerning them. And although they both tried to come up with decent plans, all of it fell short. They just weren't that good in planning ahead. But it did however, gave them an idea not to confront Chao directly but instead, they would let Chao come to either him or Konohamaru. That way, they could at least confirm that she either did have any information or she didn't.

Konohamaru hoped that it would be the former, because both of them (him and Naruto), no matter how much they thought of a plan, were simply no match for this possible foe.

Up until this time, they had managed to beat small time nobodies, lackeys or small groups that act with very little planning in mind. Case and point, Chigusa and Von Herman, both of them were smart, but they had very little back up plans in mind. Evangeline didn't count, the vampire was simply dead set on getting her powers back and Negi was still an upstart mage, anyone in Eva's situation would have certainly taken advantage of that situation.

Yet Chao, for all her sweet demeanour and genuinely good nature in and out of classes, hearing that she had been leaking information about something very important for the Magical World. It brought back memories to Naruto; memories of that bastard, Kabuto, how he was so friendly and mild mannered, who turned out to be Orochimaru's right hand man.

It was just like what he said to Negi back then during their trip in Kyoto when he told the boy about identifying spies.

'_A spy is the least likely to be suspected as one.'_

As for Chao's reasons, he didn't want to know why she was doing this. If magic turned out to be that potent if it was proliferated to people outside that certain society, then it would be just as bad as knowing the existence of the bijuu. Then again, the originator of Ninjutsu, the Rikudo Sennin, was the exact opposite of what this world was. How different would this world be, if magic was common knowledge?

However, he would need to worry about that later, first, they need a bath.

Unknown Location:

A shadow crept upon this small area with only but the sound of soft footsteps echoing throughout.

"How was your assessment?" The person asked, her voice silently resounded within the small place.

"It's better than expected, ne. They all performed very marvellously." Another spoke, her voice sounding very amused.

"Good, now that you've seen my recommendation, the money, if you please."

"Now, now, being hasty on such a thing wasn't part of the deal. You agreed to my terms, remember?"

"That wasn't part of the contract."

"Oh? Then I suggest reading it again, Mana-chan."

Silence reigned for a moment.

"…"

"I hate it when the fine print isn't as large as it needs to be."

The other person, chuckled lightly and continued, "Now that you've come to your senses, then let's discuss my little plan."

Mana's eyes narrowed at her employer, "Are you sure about this? What about Mahora's most formidable members? Konoe would be sending his best just to stop you."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I've got an ace up in my sleeve… And it contains certain information about our 'marooned' senseis."

"What about Naruto-sensei and Konohamaru-sensei? What kind of information do you have on them?"

"It's nothing that has merit as of yet, but I will eventually discover if it's true or not. After all, his exploits are considered almost mythical. And it all depends, to whatever Naruto-sensei's reply will be."

Mana's eyes never left her employer's, "How did you know this? More importantly, where did you get this kind of information?"

Her employer grinned and her eyes sharpened, as if she had known something she shouldn't.

Then, she spoke. "Oh, I know a lot of things. I'm pretty good when it comes to stuff like this. As a proud person, I seek more knowledge and find more truths, it's in my blood! I'm a Martian after all!"

It was then that Mana smashed the butt of her pistol on her employer's head.

"Moron."

With Naruto:

Another sigh escaped Naruto's lips as he prepared himself for the coming celebration of the night before the festival. Konoe had their kimonos delivered earlier as a part of their costumes for the coming night. They were, as predicted, of darker shades since it was supposed to be for men. Naruto's navy blue Kimono complimented the grey umanoribakama (Divided skirt or horse riding Hakama) and the obi was pure black. Although Naruto wanted to have an orange one, Konoe outright thought the idea to be too flashy, much to Naruto's dismay. Naruto had to admit though, it looked good on him. But to make it a bit more personalized, he grabbed his flaming red Haori and folded the short sleeves up, while wearing them, making it rise a little on the shoulders.

Konohamaru was wearing a forest green colored kimono over some white shirt and a khaki brown Hakama. To compliment, his obi was of the same color as that of his trousers, he wrapped his long blue scarf on his neck to make it look more personalized along with a khaki fisherman's cap to hide the jewel that was placed on his head, making him look more like a Meiji era citizen.

To make it even more authentic, the dean had given them a pair of white socks and straw sandals each. Naruto commented how flimsy the footwear were and how easily they could tear off given enough time.

Without another look back at their apartment, they promptly closed the door behind them.

Making their way to the main campus, Naruto and Konohamaru stopped by Evangeline's cottage and told Konohamaru to wait outside. The blonde inexplicably jumped on the roof without so much as a word and sneaked in to the vampire's house.

For the next couple of minutes, Konohamaru's expression went from bewilderment to exasperation as he heard the voice of his master and Evangeline shouting from the inside, along with the sound of kitchenware being tossed around the house.

"Stay still and let me kill you!"

The brunette then heard the dull sound of something hitting a wall. If he had to guess, it was a knife.

"Hey! Careful where you throw that! You could have killed me!"

"Precisely the point!"

A few minutes later, Konohamaru was staring flaccidly outside the house now with Chachamaru and Chachazero for his company.

"Master sure is having fun inside. Tee Hee" The little puppet declared, a smile and a gleam present in her expression.

Chachamaru gave a silent nod.

* * *

Much later:

Naruto dragged Eva out of the house while forcing her to wear a Yukata. Not that Eva would have rejected the idea to wear one, but the one that Naruto presented her happened to be baby blue and had gold fish designs everywhere. Of course, this had the side effect of Evangeline feeling insulted for being treated basically like a child with her throwing knives at the house everywhere.

After that little squabble, Naruto came out of the house with a bloody cheek where Eva had just narrowly impaled Naruto's face with a butcher knife. How she did it, no one would ever know but it was clear that Chachamaru would most likely be quite stifled when she saw the kitchen. Not like Naruto could care, he wasn't the one throwing pointy objects and embedding them on the wall.

"Aw man… I was hoping for that baby blue kimono with the gold fish patterns and the pretty pink obi as your attire for tonight, Eva-chan."

"SHUT UP!" Eva shouted followed by decking Naruto at his stomach forcing him to curl over and heave.

Evangeline wore a dark purple Yukata with autumn leaves as designs. Her obi was a vibrant yellow, a stark contrast to her yukata and one that complimented her hair quite nicely.

"Is there some sort of law on violence against men? I seem to be at the poor end of the stick most of the time when it comes to the opposite sex." Naruto said in between writhing agony and indescribable pain.

Konohamaru merely said to the blonde while helping him up, "You had that coming, Naruto-nii."

Once they made their way to the plaza and saw the countless stands and the bustling that made the night lively, lights were on everywhere as the sound of people talking and instruments were ringing in their ears while watching such a festive night.

"A festival before a festival, well I'll be…" Naruto commented as they made their way towards the crowded streets. Along the way, they managed to meet up with Negi and his group.

"Well now, aren't we all nicely prepared for the night?" Naruto commented with a grin as he saw Negi and his group wearing Yukatas in differing patterns. The one that caught his interest though, was the dark blue kimono that Konoka wore. It didn't look anything like a Yukata because it was very formal. The golden leaf patterns and the prim and large obi tied to her waist was a sharp contrast to Asuna's and Setsuna's. The very long sleeves that she wore were another contrast to the girls that were wearing them as well.

"Is there something wrong, Naruto-sensei? Konohamaru-sensei?" The said student asked the two.

Konoka on her part tilted her head in curiosity as both Naruto and Konohamaru kept staring at her and then the rest of the girls. Obviously, something was wrong with her current outfit. That was something she couldn't deny, she had just escaped another omiai (Meeting between two unattached people to consider the possibility of marriage) while still wearing her Furisode (Formal Kimono primarily worn by single women).

She had to admit though, the Furisode provided a better warmer than the Yukata. That and there was a certain elegance in wearing a Furisode.

The Getta sandals however, were sometimes painful to walk with.

Naruto simply gave a sheepish grin while Konohamaru hid his face by adjusting his scarf and tilting his hat down a little, a blush appearing from his cheeks.

"Nothing, just that you look way too formal in the festival, Konoka." Naruto said casually and Konoka smiled a little.

"Well, my grandfather forced me into another meeting. Luckily, I managed to escape." She mentioned and then inspected both Naruto and Konohamaru thoroughly.

Although the attire that Konohamaru and Naruto wore was personalized, they seemed to fit the duo seamlessly. Naruto, on his part, looked quite regal even with his disposition. Maybe it was the Haori that seemed to give him such a fine look with the kimono, he looked like a high ranking soldier in a feudal lord's army or maybe even a feudal lord himself. The only thing missing from the blonde was a daisho sword pair, a sash to tie his haori with the swords and a crest on his back and he'd be looking quite the samurai that many women would swoon over.

"It's tough being the grandchild of a powerful man." Konohamaru nodded in understanding Konoka's situation. He is the grandson of the Sandaime Hokage after all. The expectations and the times of being referred to nothing more as the grandson of the third was something that made his blood boil back then. It still irked him today, but not as much as it used to.

In contrast to Naruto's shogunate era style of clothing, Konohamaru was wearing a mixture of both east and west. The Fisherman's hat and the scarf were clearly from western influence. The hat matched Konohamaru's spiky brown hair as did the long and thick scarf he wore around his neck. He looked like someone from the industrial age, or to be more precise, the Meiji era.

"For being master and apprentice, you two sure have different tastes." Asuna deadpanned at the two ninja, to this, four voices shouted in defence against her.

"What's wrong with having a set of different tastes?" Naruto, Konohamaru, Negi and surprisingly, Evangeline shouted.

"Listen here, Kagurazaka! Just because I'm this brat's…" Thus, Evangeline pointed to Negi and then continued, "Master, doesn't mean that I have something similar to him! I wouldn't stoop so low as to be a spineless wimp like him!"

Naruto nodded at this, "Yeah! I'm not like my apprentice here who's grown quite the prude! I mean, he gets easily flustered!"

Naruto then patted Konohamaru's back with a little more force than needed causing the boy to a have a coughing fit.

Both apprentices looked either crestfallen or annoyed.

"Negi-sensei! Over here!" One of their students called, from what Naruto could tell, it was the rest of Negi's class. It was quite a coincidence seeing them here in the middle of a huge crowd.

"Negi-sensei! I've reserved a place just for the two of us near the world tree with a picnic ready!" Ayaka shouted, Naruto was shaking uncontrollably and wanted to turn into a ball of murmurs about sex changing snake-men as he heard the girl while Konohamaru shook his head in dismay, "Laying it a little thick there, Ayaka."

A few more minutes later, everyone from 3-A gathered and began their pleasantries. Naruto was staying as far away from the Class president as possible and was talking to the library trio.

"So we all get to wear whatever we want for the next three days?" Naruto asked in confirmation while the library trio nodded. Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment and cradled his chin.

"Well, I always wanted to do that so I guess I can give it a shot." Naruto mentioned out loud while the girls were listening intently.

"Naruto-nii, what are you thinking?" Konohamaru asked while the blonde simply grinned.

"Well, Yue and the others said that Mahora Festival allows you to dress up to whatever you want. I'm thinking of something thematic for my taste and I suddenly got this great idea!" Naruto said with a grin. Konohamaru simply raised an eyebrow. Usually, when the blonde said 'thematic for his taste' it would mean that Naruto was thinking something close to favourite dish.

"Don't tell me you're thinking of dressing up as something that has anything to do with ramen."

Naruto grinned.

'_Shit. It really was related to ramen!'_

"I'm thinking of dressing up as a sliced kamaboko!" Naruto declared and Konohamaru had the urge to palm his face at this declaration. The blonde then began ranting about how cool and awesome it was and how funny it would be if everyone called him Naruto (the fishcake)

Konohamaru sighed in exasperation and gave in to the urge to palm his face.

"You know, Sensei, if I had a gun right now, I'd shoot you." Yue stated flatly as Mana nodded.

"That can be arranged."

Naruto nervously laughed as he held his arms up in protest.

"No, no, that's fine. I was just thinking of another attire to get into the festivities tomorrow." Naruto said while he sweated bullets from the fear of being shot. He had enough bodily pain for one day, thank you very much.

"Hey, you guys, if you're done with your idle talk, I suggest you all hurry up! The fireworks are starting any minute now!" Asuna hollered and the ones left behind instantly nodded catching up to them.

Naruto looked around, and saw countless people staring up into the dark night sky. All of them were giddily awaiting the performance of fireworks lighting up the sky in a myriad of vibrant colors. Amidst his lookout, his eyes wandered to a familiar looking girl, smiling at him with her hair held up neatly in a bun, the ends of her hair were spiking at the back as matching her equally red kimono. There were no designs on her yukata but mere translucent depictions of camellias and her purple obi complimented well on her beautiful figure.

To put it bluntly in Naruto's thoughts, the woman was beautiful, she looked absolutely graceful and refined in her kimono, as if she had the gait of a woman far more mature of her age.

"Hello, Naruto-sensei." Her voice instantly shattered whatever mystery she had as Naruto recognized her voice.

"Ah, Chizuru, I never recognized you with your hair up." Naruto admitted and gave a sheepish grin before continuing, "Sorry about that."

Chizuru never found her teacher's fault that much of a problem however, seeing as that anyone could have mistaken her for someone else.

"Its fine, Naruto-sensei, a lot of the girls didn't recognize me as well because of my hair." Chizuru mentioned with a smile, giggling behind her sleeves, somehow happy to have fooled Naruto about her appearance for tonight.

"Nah, I should make it up to you, I never recognized you until you spoke. Some teacher I am, huh?" He joked at that and Chizuru smiled as well.

"Well, there are some days that you can be brilliant and some days were you tend to act worse than Negi-sensei."

"So what makes this pre-festival-festival different aside from the fireworks?" Naruto asked, he looked up, still no sign of the lightshow for the night.

"Well, there are some booths that facilitate specific games, but the main festival itself is much more fun."

Naruto nodded his head. Maybe he should play some games for tonight before going on the job tomorrow? The thought certainly is tempting. Maybe he should give it a go; he'd be busy most of the time by tomorrow anyway.

"I hate it sometimes when all the lights around this place are blocking the stars at night." Chizuru suddenly mentioned her disappointment for the night. Naruto simply shrugged.

"Well, starry nights are pretty good to watch every now and then. Sometimes when my friends and I want to go out camping, we usually look at the stars before turning in." Naruto said with a smile as he looked up. He remembered watching the stars with Shikamaru and even Neji on more than one occasion, the billions of clustered small orbs of light literally filled the night sky outside Konoha especially when near the mountain ranges of Earth and Lightning Country.

And as if turning the tune of the gods were favouring their conversation for a moment, the lights all slowly went dark.

"May we require your attention for a moment, please?" The voice asked and it came from the speakers all around the crowd.

"As a first of its kind in the annual Mahora pre-festival celebration, we will have a five minute 'lights out' routine for a momentary star gazing event!"

Just then, the stars slowly became visible, a small pallet of white streaked across the sky, as if blanketing a myriad of stars behind it.

A part of the Milky Way Galaxy's cosmic clouds was always a sight to behold.

_Starry, starry night…_

_Paint your palette blue and grey_

_Look out on a summer's day_

_With eyes that know the darkness in my soul…_

A song then began to play. It was mostly acoustic in nature, with a voice as soft as the melancholic theme of the song.

_Shadows on the hills…_

_Sketch the trees and the Daffodils,_

_Catch the breeze and the winter chills,_

_In colors on the snowy linen land._

The song played on, as if admiring the natural beauty that came with nature. Naruto somewhat felt melancholic, feeling slightly homesick as he stared up at the sky.

_Now I understand…_

_What you tried to say to me,_

_And how you suffered for your sanity_

_How you tried to set them free_

_They would not listen they did not know how,_

_Perhaps they'll listen now._

How ironic that for such a genuinely upbeat occasion, they would play this kind of song. Was it to discourage the people who were planning to confess? Well that was weird, this song was certainly sad, but it surely wouldn't be enough to stop people from confessing.

In another part of the crowd, a girl who was getting impatient at not being able to confess to the boy she liked because of the fireworks were being stalled, suddenly decided to confess some other time. There was still a few more days during the festival after all, no need to rush things and all that, besides, it would seem terribly awkward to confess when Don McLean's ode to Vincent Van Gogh was playing. It didn't seem right.

_Starry, starry night…_

_Flaming flowers that brightly blaze,_

_Swirling clouds in violet haze,_

_Reflect in Vincent's eyes of China blue…_

_Colors change in hue,_

_Morning fields of Amber grey,_

_Weathered faces lined in pain,_

_Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand…_

"Oh dear, that certainly puts a damper on things." Chizuru muttered with disappointment in her voice, Naruto raised his eyebrow at this.

"What are you talking about, Chizuru? Isn't this what you wanted?"

Chizuru smiled a little, "Of course, but there was something else I had in mind. It seems like I'll have to postpone it."

Now Naruto was confused, what could have brought Chizuru here that should worry her?

_Now I understand…_

_What you tried to say to me,_

_And how you suffered for your sanity_

_How you tried to set them free_

_They would not listen they did not know how,_

_Perhaps they'll listen now._

By this time, one of the girls in the crowd was starting to get pissed off. The gloomy song was destroying her chances into telling her undying love to the man of her dreams. A while later, a stick commonly used in cotton candy snapped.

_For they could not love you…_

_Still your love was true!_

_And when no hope was left in sight on that starry, starry night…_

_You took your life as lovers often do._

_But I could have told you Vincent,_

_This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you._

Okay, that certainly would have put anyone in an awkward moment if they confessed at that moment. Hearing someone commit suicide while speaking about your long time admiration for someone was certainly NOT the best way to confess.

As soon as the song ended, Naruto was sure that many who were planning to confess that night were all backing down. Not that he could blame them, the sound of the gloomy song was setting them back from tell their feelings.

Just then, the first sound of a loud bang was heard as it echoed through the sky, giving a whistling sound as it rose in the air before finally exploding into multiple embers in the sky, like flowers blooming.

The flashes of yellow, red and other colors filled to the brim lit up the night sky, as people all around them looked in awe at the splendour of the lights show.

"Now we commence, the Annual Mahora Festival!"

Unknown to the majority of students and staff in the Academy, the proverbial gates of hell had opened. And it opened, with a loud bang.

* * *

To be continued…

And now we can finally begin!

FAQs to be answered:

**When will Gaara show up?**

Much later, I suppose, but he'll have short appearances, I'll see what I can come up with

**What about Killer Bee?**

Killer Bee will be making an appearance in Mahora Festival arc, and as stated, he will not participate in the tournament. I have other plans for him.

**What are the pairings?**

Here's a straight up answer: I don't know! The story can go either way, I'm not leaning towards any pairings as of now, maybe give a little ship tease here and there but nothing too implying. I'd like to think that love happens on accident, and it goes well with my writing. Implying pairings in this stage of the story feels forced, unneeded and quite frankly, too awkward for me.

**Pactios?**

Now this is something I've been really looking forward to. The four characters from the Narutoverse will get a pactio coming from different people. I have a nice and detailed outline for Naruto's pactio right now, along with Konohamaru's and Killer Bee's. For Gaara, I imagined it would benefit his style of fighting with his sand so it's simpler than it sounds but damn effective.

The only problem? No Latin translator to help me!

**Konohamaru's 'new jutsu'?**

Ah, another thing that I've been planning. Basically, since we're referencing different Hindu/Buddhist terms/concepts/traditions for Konohamaru, might as well put it there. As part of Konohamaru's growth, I think taking some references from Hindu beliefs and Buddhist concepts are something that would build/fit Konohamaru's character here like say, Samsara or the Six Realms of Reincarnation.

**OMG! Konohamaru will possibly have the Rinnegan?**

No, not THAT concept of the Samsara or heck, not even Rokudo's entire basis from KHR. I have a different way of approaching this and a different way to use it. But what it is, it remains to be a secret.

As a sign of your allegiance, I demand you to leave a review, post haste!

Disclaimer: The Song "Vincent" is owned by Don McLean.


	23. Prelude to Love and Festivals Part 2

Unwanted Travelling

Chapter Twenty-Three: Prelude to Love and Festivals, Part 2

* * *

Crowds weren't Konohamaru's thing.

In fact, he hated crowds. The reason being, they tend to associate people like things to be compared.

As a person rooted deep with high expectations and relation to the Sarutobi household, he had a name to live up to. At least, that's what MANY of the villagers view him as, the grandchild of the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was the Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi) master of all forms of ninja combat.

It was a name that terribly weighed down on him. The Sarutobi name was a name that bore the banner of legends on their backs, etched with a long history of excellence. His great grandfather, Sarutobi Sasuke, was a famous ninja of his own right as was his dearly departed uncle, Asuma, a member of the Shugonin Junishi (Twelve Guardian Ninja). Many of the villagers expected great things from the grandson of the Sandaime. Konohamaru was, after all, a ninja of the infamous Sarutobi household.

It brought a lot of anger out of him at that. It turned him into the spoiled brat that he was until four years ago. The fact that he had a name to live up to was sickening. It didn't view him as Sarutobi Konohamaru. It told him he was the Sandaime Hokage's grandson. He could only imagine what kind of pressure Kurenai's off-spring would have when faced with these facts alone.

But even though he had a certain disdain of crowds, sometimes though, he had to deal with it. It's not like he was the only one who had a problem with dealing with them, Naruto had to as well. Where he was looked at as the honourable grandson of the Sandaime, his mentor was viewed as the opposite. Naruto, who had always been a subject of scorn for much of his youth, took the judging eyes of the crowd with nothing but a stride. He would simply choose to ignore it or prove them wrong. Throughout his youth, or from what Konohamaru could gather from his mentor, it would often lead to the latter rather than the former. He would always challenge people and show them that they wrong. Most of the time, he failed at that, but sometimes, brilliance would work its magic in ways that would leave people shocked and with Naruto having that confident smug that clearly tells it all.

To say his achievements throughout his career as a shinobi far exceeded of what he was when he was a mere academy student would be an understatement. He had blown past his set expectations with a rampaging summon and burned all false and negative assumptions to the ground.

Defeating a chuunin at twelve (Mizuki), outsmarting an experienced fighter who was considered a member of the seven swordsmen (Zabuza), surviving against a known S-class criminal (Orochimaru), summoning the toad chief at the earlier stages of his training with Jiraiya, beating a Jinchuuriki that manifested his powers to an extent that he seemed almost invincible (Gaara), learning the Rasengan in a week that took the Fourth Freaking Hokage three years to come up and master. And that was just during his first year of being a genin!

Compared to the blonde's accomplishments, his seemed lukewarm.

But he couldn't deny that Naruto, despite his lacking skills, despite his notoriety for being an idiot and despite his countless failures, all of it paled in comparison to his achievements. No one in the entire history of the Shinobi nations has reached a higher pedestal past Naruto in terms of his strength during and after the war at a tender age of sixteen. He became the most dangerous man alive. Whereas his father was known as the Yellow Flash and to a more gruesome extent, the Butcher of Iwa, Naruto was known as the Scarlet Tempest or simply, 'The Maelstrom' as a testament to his lineage that the crest on his back symbolized.

So amidst the people squeezing in and trying to get a view of the wonderful and colorful floats, the reeking smell of sweat and BO coming from the people in the middle of a sweltering day, he had to bear the crowd as if he was going through a war. Today was one of those days that they had to be on guard and be swift, ever vigilant of their most nefarious foe that seek to capture the hearts of people in a spell-binding oath.

At the current time, it was his shift.

"Sempai… I know that I'm being so sudden since we just met over a month ago, but ever since we've met, you've been so nice to me and really showed me how to have a good time…"

Konohamaru's hearing was quick to pick up the voice of his dangerous foe. With a swift turn of his heel, the brunette turned his back and grabbed one smoke bomb from his pouch. The brunette placed it between his middle and index fingers as his eyes squinted to look for his enemy.

"What I'm trying to say is, that I…"

With dexterity tried and true, the brunette spotted his targets. Both were facing each other, just behind lamp post. No other person was currently present there, so it was good that there were very few people around.

The small pellet exploded with black smog escaping between the teenagers. But just as they were about to get out, they instantly fell to the ground in a heap.

The brunette had been asked to carry smoke bombs mixed with sleep inducers. Naruto's clones made it the night before when they were out and looking at the festival, so he had plenty to spare.

Konohamaru grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and called over the logistics division that the school had set up earlier.

"Yeah, I got two students knocked out here. I don't know why, must be the heat. We're located at the southern sector, near a lamp post with a clock on top; get here as soon as you can." The brunette lied. He then looked over to the clock with much anticipation as his shift was about to be over.

He did not appreciate the fact that his current job was putting him in an awkward position, seeing teenagers hormonally charged like that.

'_Good grief, am I going to be like __**THAT**__?' _The brunette thought with a shudder. Not that he was thoroughly scared of the fact that he saw people older than him being that… Frisky, but what actually made him blanch out was the desperation that people would put into great lengths when it comes to intimate relationships.

He hoped that when he grows up, he never comes to that.

The brunette soon was relieved from his post when one of the people he had seen during the meeting yesterday walked up to him and told him he could go. Konohamaru, who was wearing the standard Konoha uniform, gladly accepted and went away, happy to be gone from the heat for a while.

He told himself that he needed to relax for a moment as he sat by a park bench after getting a cold can of juice from the dispenser under a shaded area and sighed in relief.

"Have to relax first, and then I have to go find Negi and the others. I bet Naruto-nii forgot to remind Negi about warning the girls not to try anything today." He told himself and took of a few sips from his juice while gazing at the Sakura trees around him.

Speaking of Naruto, the blonde mentor had earlier created at least a hundred copies of himself to scour around the campus earlier in the day. Konohamaru was then given a signal torch if he ever was in trouble. The brunette didn't look convinced when he sent the clones out, he may have set them up as outposts throughout the academy, and the delegated task to him has become almost obsolete, it would mean that Naruto would most likely goof off all around the place. It was his nature after all.

* * *

With Naruto:

With all of the points well guarded by his clones, disguised as people he could remember, the blonde was having a field day all around the festival like a kid who just opened and consumed a whole bag of sugar.

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP ALREADY? I'M BEGGING YOU, ITS ALMOST TWO MONTHS WORTH OF MONEY YOU GOT FROM ME!"

The vendor sobbed as he pleaded Naruto to stop after popping up another balloon and yet won another prize to add to his pile. Said vendor was already down on his knees and hugging the blonde's leg, as if his house was being taken away from him.

Naruto popped another balloon.

The vendor just bawled.

Feeling pity on the man, Naruto left him with three prizes that he thought were a bit excessive (The human sized Teddy Bear being one of them).

After this display of near perfect marksmanship and almost driving the poor vendor out of business, many owners of the nearby game stalls shuddered when Naruto walked to their general direction and clung on to their money for dear life.

The blonde, who had by then started giving away prizes to any person that he met along the way (Although innocent on Naruto's part, many of the girls that he had randomly given a gift would find his gesture romantic and would react with either a blush or flirting with the oblivious teacher).

Naruto, who had inadvertently fended off another girl with his careless choice of words, managed to meet up with Negi and Chamo as he made his way towards his class.

"Naruto-nii, you're here early! Shouldn't you be doing your shift right now?" Negi asked and Naruto nodded with a grin.

"Yep, I got all seven points guarded by my clones. There are at least several of them disguised as different people if you're wondering."

Negi looked quite jealous of Naruto's ability to multitask. He could go on in different places all at once, which was why he didn't have a problem in going to the events that the girls practically begged him to come with. And with the benefits that this certain cloning technique possesses, it would be as if Naruto himself was at every event that he promised to go even though technically, he would be goofing off to god knows where.

"Wow, I wish I had that ability, Naruto-nii. Then I could go to all the events that my students kept asking me about." Negi said in astonishment and Naruto simply shook his head at it.

"I wouldn't recommend it. Kage Bunshin halves my chakra for equal distribution to the clones. Because I have a whole lot of it, I can create as much as a thousand. Apart from possibly one other, only I can practically use it like it doesn't have anything harmful in it. You could probably make five but that's about it. Make more and you'll die."

Negi paled at that while Chamo's mouth almost hit the floor. Naruto may be more of a powerful beast than they thought. He could certainly stand toe to toe with Evangeline, and it would certainly make sense that this much power should only be compared with the doll master herself.

"Well, enough about me, what are you two doing?" The blonde asked as the two tried to regain their composure from that astonishment. The red head replied, "We were about to make our way to the haunted house to see the girls and how much their hard work paid off."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, remember what the principal warned you about?" Naruto mentioned, remembering the principal's warning since yesterday.

"_You three should watch out for yourselves."_

Negi tilted his head to the side at that. He wondered just what the old man had meant. Naruto answered for him, "Weird, huh? Anyway, just to be on the safe side, don't let any of your students get close to those seven spots and 'throw the cards down at the table', if you know what I mean."

"Throw the cards on the table?" Negi asked as to what allusion Naruto was playing at.

"Confess, Negi! Confessing on these seven spots! You want one of your students to be mindless love slaves for the rest of their lives?" Naruto asked, rather incredulously at that. Negi shook his head slowly at the thought. Naruto's mind had never crossed the fact that Negi might become a victim too.

They made it to Class 3-A's event which ironically enough for the past few weeks, was a haunted house. Naruto could have sworn somebody was taunting him and reminding him about that adult store they visited a few weeks prior thinking it was a haunted house itself.

"Negi-kun, Naruto-sensei, we're over here!"

Sakurako and Yuuna both waved at them when Konohamaru was right at the front of the line by the entrance. Obviously though, Naruto and Konohamaru's attentions weren't on the highly detailed entrance that led to the house of horrors, but on the risqué outfits that each of the girls were wearing.

"You know, I could have sworn this was a haunted house. Aren't you girls supposed to be scary looking?" Naruto said, bending down a little and eyeing both Sakurako and Yuuna who blushed under Naruto's discerning gaze.

While Yuuna was looking like a very sexy werewolf that shaved its fur from her top and midriff down to her legs, Sakurako was wearing what Naruto would call the half-pint's (Evangeline) fetish for leather.

"Because of your help, we've managed to establish the 'Heartbeat Haunted House'! It's a huge success!" Yuuna shouted.

"We also require a five hundred yen pay if there's any form of inappropriate touching!" Sakurako chimed in, earning a look from Naruto that clearly tells him that he was surprised.

"You do know putting that fine only encourages them more, right?" Naruto clarified as he looked back at the men who were stuffing five hundred yen coins into their pockets hurriedly while Naruto simply gave a frown as he looked back at Yuuna and pointing with his thumb at the line behind them.

Yuuna just shrugged.

Konohamaru raised his eyebrow at this, "Are you sure that it's because of the haunted house that they're going to? I don't really see it that way."

The people behind the three suddenly voiced their opinion with Negi's group taking cutting in line all the way to the front. Sakurako immediately apologized.

"Oh, we're sorry, these three are our teachers!"

Everyone seemed to have stopped at that when Sakurako explained to them.

The two girls then led them inside, the sounds of the speakers hissing and wailing of a random voice was the first to greet them as they looked around. Barely, Naruto could make out the brick walls as nothing more than paper mache. It looked real enough, he guessed. Then, to each door waited three girls from left to right, Akira with her role as a modest school girl wearing the traditional sailor uniform, Makie, a dark kimono and blood red obi, complimented with her hair decorations, her hands were clasped together at her front as she bowed deeply. Ayaka was different from the other two, though. Whereas Akira's attire was simple or wasn't as covered as Makie, hers was a western night gown reaching up to her ankles and covering her feet, the sleeves covered the lower part of her shoulders, showing her creamy white skin underneath, along with the upper half of her chest (certainly it was sizeable enough for one of her age). Naruto mused that if Jiraiya was here, he would have given a nod of approval. Then again, even his sensei might freak out about Ayaka's… preference, if you will.

Behind the three girls placed three doors complimenting their costumes. The one behind Akira was a door with a glass window near the top, signalling its school like setting (School Curses) from what the sign says, it had the highest fear factor, apparently not cute (?) and a very high love-love factor (?). From Makie's, it was a traditional shoji sliding door with the same traditional white rice paper placed in between the thin wooden frames placed on top of the door frame was a sign that told them its theme, Traditional Japanese horror stories that had a mediocre fear factor (again, Konohamaru's reaction was basically tilting his head in confusion), one star for its cute factor (?) and a mediocre love-love factor (?). Finally, behind Ayaka was a plain wooden door. No windows, no rice paper, and not even a sillohouete from behind the scenes. At the top it read, "Gothic Horrors" and a very low scare rating, a low love-love rating, but with the highest cute factor.

"Now, you three, select whatever door you want to go in!" Sakurako commanded, Negi looked quite nervous but before he could even decide, Konohamaru raised his hand as if he wanted to ask a question.

"Are you sure we're in a haunted house? I get the feeling that this is more than just that."

Naruto solemnly nodded at this, "You may be right about that one, Konohamaru. The whole rating thing is terribly confusing. It's as if groping isn't really forbidden and stuff."

Naruto had a few tangles with reading instructions to the letter. The Chuunin exam was enough of a testament to that. Nobody in here ever said that touching was forbidden yet everyone was neither stupid enough nor ballsy enough to pull it off. Then again, the fine was rather, lenient to his liking so maybe the girls were thinking that it was fine to be touched? Or is it they were THAT kinky?

Naruto shook his head at the thought. No. These were his students! Pure maidens that were subtly looking for some but not outright deliberate enough to offer their bodies in the process!

His musings became short lived at that when Sakurako suggested that Negi would do the honours of picking a door first.

"That's crazy! You would want Negi-sensei enter the haunted house?" Makie voiced her protest over the matter. Obviously, there was clearly something wrong in sending a boy into something like this. Ayaka agreed to her statement, much to the nod coming from Konohamaru.

"He'll easily get scared and he'll immediately cling to somebody…" Suddenly realizing their opportunity of taking advantage of Negi in the dark, Ayaka and Makie looked at Negi with predatory stares, the kind of which of how a hawk or eagle saw a tiny little mouse about to be eaten.

Konohamaru kept looking between Negi and his two admirers and noticed how much tension (and fear) was currently escaping through the air. Naruto was simply keeping quiet and watched with mild fascination (and fear) as Negi took Akira's side and went for the door with the school curses.

Naruto inwardly laughed at the scene as Ayaka and Makie felt like they were shot down horribly, from a ten year old at that.

Now that left two doors for Naruto and Konohamaru to choose each. And seeing as Ayaka's mood turned sour, Konohamaru did not want to deal with a broken hearted woman right now simply because he didn't know how to deal with a broken hearted woman.

"I choose the Traditional Japanese horror theme, please!" Both of them mentioned at the same time.

Konohamaru foresaw this. It wasn't as if Naruto's irrational fear of Ayaka was unknown to him, so it was unsurprising that Naruto would choose either Akira's door or Makie's. And although it was quite insensitive on his part, Konohamaru was getting tired of Naruto's shtick when it came to Ayaka, that guy needed to forget all about Orochimaru, it wasn't as if he was going to reincarnate anyway, he's still stuck in that sword Itachi used to seal him for eternity.

"Oh my, Makie, you're quite popular with our two senseis right now, aren't you glad?" Yuuna teased and nudged the girl's shoulder earning a blush and a pout coming from Makie. She really wanted Negi to choose her. But maybe she was too enthusiastic in coming on to the boy, which was probably why he chose Akira, who had no lingering feelings to Negi.

"It looks like we'll settle this with a fight then." Konohamaru looked serious as he eyed the blonde who merely glared sideways at him, if one were to look closely, they would probably see a bolt of electricity clashing in the middle of master and apprentice.

"Stupid apprentice, I'm telling you to drop it, let your master have a break from the disturbing mental images." Naruto said, trying to sate his patience on Konohamaru with gritted teeth. But nonetheless, he complied with Konohamaru's offer.

Naruto and Konohamaru never looked that serious in front of the girls. Most of the time, Naruto looked carefree while Konohamaru always looked so detached as if he didn't have much to care for. But now, they could actually feel as if Naruto and Konohamaru's spirits were on fire, showing both their determination and resolve, how they were close to killing the opponent that stood in front of them.

The girls and some of the guys at the front row visibly tensed. Two teachers were about to duke it out in front of their students? What the hell was the world coming to?

"**Defeat means death!"** Both of them shouted and reeled back the girls were about to stop both of them when they were several inches away from punching each other's lights out.

"**JAN KEN PO!"**

"Paper beats rock!" Both hands were paper.

"Scissors beat paper!" Both were Scissors.

"Rock beats scissors!" Both were Rocks.

Several of the girls and some of the boys fell down all around the duo as they battled it out in a game of pure chance.

It finally stopped when Konohamaru drew rock and Naruto drew scissors.

"I win!" Konohamaru gloated in front of Naruto who was shaking in frustration.

"Do over! Best two out of three times!" Naruto demanded but Konohamaru would have none of it.

"Haha! I beat you fair and square Naruto-nii! Now take your medicine like a man!" To this, Konohamaru pointed to the blonde as he flinched and took a step back.

A moment of consternation escaped within Naruto as he was deep in thought at the sudden loss. Looking back at a stoic Ayaka and a smirking Konohamaru, Naruto looked glum as he sat on a fetal position and began poking the ground with his index finger.

"I-I just can't do it." The blonde muttered and began shivering when he was starting to remember the times Orochimaru was playfully twirling his neck around and constricting Sasuke with it, except, it wasn't Sasuke who was the prey, it was him and it wasn't the snake Sannin that was coiling his legs with his hideously long tongue out in the open, it was Ayaka and she was twirling her head around him.

Naruto held his head and was shaking, "May God help us all!"

By now, Konohamaru was inside and was quietly (if bored) looking around as Makie took him in the horror scenario of his choice. Being a ninja, he had at least a better awareness of his surroundings like how he should expect something coming out of that Tatami mat any second. An idea suddenly popped into his head as he grinned. He snuck up behind the Tatami mat, careful to not being noticed by Makie that he strayed from her tour.

He snuck up behind the Tatami mat and awaited his would be victim to pop up any minute.

It was then that a disembodied voice began to speak, "Many tales that involve Yokai circulated throughout the Edo period at a time when the Sengoku era had ended and Tokugawa Ieyasu took reign. Forged from the tales of the Heian period due to their bourgeois lifestyle and the dark whisperings of the _Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai_ (One Hundred Ghost Story Night), one of them was a Yokai that thirsts for vengeance for the mistreatment and abuse she has received in her entire life."

Konohamaru then smirked.

"It is said that this Yokai haunts men in the darkness, prowling aimlessly, looking for a victim unlucky enough to go near it."

The floorboards creaked and the Tatami mat slowly gave a sound.

The brunette seemingly still, naturally blended in the darkness as the lights became dimmer and dimmer. A manic laugh then echoed all around.

"Beware of its manic laugh, for as soon as a man replies with a laugh as well, the Harionago (Needle woman) will hunt him down to the ends of the earth and torture him until his death!"

Just then, a girl in a white robe popped out expectantly under the Tatami mat, her ebony hair was completely dishevelled, covering the entirety of her face as her hands reached out and was leaning forward.

The girl stopped her acting though, when she saw literally no one in front of her. Maybe the person ran away when she popped up and scared the poor guy/girl away?

A tap on her shoulder caught her by surprise and she turned her head.

When she did, however, Konohamaru was there making faces and scaring the living daylights out of her!

"Give me your soul!" Konohamaru said in a creepy voice.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"**

Ako suddenly shrieked.

Makie hurriedly went back to where the audible scream came from and saw Ako almost to the brink of fainting while Konohamaru was holding him up with a bead of sweat at the back of his head.

"She's surprisingly easy to scare." Konohamaru mentioned.

On to Naruto's side of the haunted tour, he kept his reasonable distance (About five meters) from the class representative who was looking quite depressed. Of course, this somehow had the effect of Naruto unknowingly catching up to the girl and the blonde jinchuuriki looking surprised when he bumped into her.

The contact was brief but it was enough to put a tingle in Naruto's spine up and down in pure abject horror.

'_Oh God, my predecessors back in Myobokuzan must be delivering this punishment because I toppled over the statues! I a__lready put it back in place! Wasn't that enough?'_

"Naruto-sensei, am I ugly?"

That question caught him off guard that it caused him to flinch.

Nonetheless he had to give an answer, so answer he did.

"Uh, no… What ever crossed your mind that you were ugly? You're really pretty when you look at a mirror, class president."

Naruto felt like he complimented Orochimaru. Seriously, he wanted to bang his head on the wall and he was close to doing so. Unknowingly, rivers of tears were slowly escaping his eyes.

'_Ugh, I feel so dirty.' _Naruto thought in disgust. He sluggishly tried to keep up with Ayaka's pace.

"T-Then why did Negi-sensei…"

"You were probably too eager and Negi felt something seriously wrong was about to happen if he stayed with you." Naruto quickly cut off, dismissing another prank held together by the twins as they walked.

'_Think of something positive.'_ Naruto chanted that mantra in his head over and over again as he was tempted to clasp his hands together for a better effect. It didn't mean that what he thought was friendly.

'_Kiba gett__ing decked by Sakura for mistakenly hearing that she was an ironing board, yeah, that's good.' _Naruto mentioned and a grin slowly crept up his face. He remembered that one. Apparently, people should never mention the word 'flat' or anything remotely similar to it around Sakura when she's either near Hinata and Temari or when she's having her period. It did not end well when both happened in the same time while Kiba thought about buying a brand new ironing board and the implications that came along when he asked Sakura for some advice.

He got it alright, a trip to Konoha Hospital for two weeks and a compound fracture was just a bonus he received from being slammed with the item in question, along with the confusion and terror that Kiba had gained from Sakura.

"B-but… Isn't it the best way to express your affections?" Ayaka asked and cutting off the blonde from memories he was rather fond of.

"True, but then again, that type of action tend to turn the recipient off."

Another memory invading his thoughts, this time, in the form of Sasuke almost stripped down to the bone because of his Fangirls. The face of the Uchiha was as priceless as watching the old pervert get smashed in the head with Tsunade's fist.

"I honestly don't have an answer for that because I can barely understand this whole attraction thing. But if it makes it easier for you, I've been rejected by the same girl I've been pinning on for at least more than a hundred times." Naruto answered and grinned.

'_Of course, the punches to the face were can be a little overboard, though.' _He added as an afterthought and a sense of phantom pain lingered on his left cheek.

Now that had Ayaka's curiosity spinning.

"You kept your admiration to the girl you liked even after she said no for more than a hundred times?" Ayaka asked, rather incredulous of the fact. Naruto simply shrugged.

"It's because back then, I had a shallow view on what love is. Even if you persist, if the answer was no, then what can I do about it?" Naruto said and shrugged, this time his hands in his pockets.

"We learn a lot of things when we get to experience love. There was one time when I stopped and asked myself why she kept rejecting me even though I've done a lot of things for her and paid attention to her, I feel like it was a wasted and meaningless effort. Just when I accepted the fact that she would never love me, she goes around and admits that she DOES love me." Naruto said, and this time, that irrational fear was slowly dissipating from his thoughts.

"Then eventually, the one that you love will surely love you if you persist?" Ayaka asked, looking hopeful but stopped when Naruto shook his head with a melancholic smile.

A memory of that snowy day suddenly invaded his thoughts, as he spoke with Ayaka. His goofy expression earlier was now replaced with a smile dashed with sadness.

"A lot of the things she said about her feelings were lies. She didn't really have any sort of romantic feelings for me. Its funny isn't it? I thought for sure that when she said those words to me, I'd be the happiest man alive, instead I was angry. She wasn't just lying to me, she was lying to herself. I couldn't just live with myself if I just went along with her like that." Naruto said and finally, for the first time, he touched Ayaka by her hair and began to tussle it with a much brighter smile.

"It's funny also, that to think I could ever find some sort of kindred spirit with you. But in my case, my fear of rejection was overshadowed with something else." Naruto then let go of the girl's head and continued to walk. Ayaka simply looked on silently at the blonde before finally asking her question, curious of what Naruto had meant.

"Overshadowed with what, Naruto-sensei?" Her words finally got out. Naruto stopped before turning back to Ayaka.

"Nobody has what it takes to defeat loneliness. It's an experience that no one should ever have. My greatest fear was dying all alone, in a dark room, with no one even crying for me. I don't want to go back to that kind of place, a place where every waking moment of my life, I've had no one to lean on."

It was weird. Somehow, bearing his soul like this made him forget about his long standing thoughts of Ayaka being a hotter version of Orochimaru. Instead, he was seeing a woman standing before him, looking for something to help her in her time of need.

Ayaka glanced at Naruto with a newfound respect. Who ever knew that their goofy sensei had a deep side of him? Especially one so empathic to other people as well?

That established image of a bright and energetic teacher was replaced by a much different visage than what she had expected. In her eyes stood not a laidback person, she was now staring at a mature boy, with years of heartache and pain, collected and formed into a single person. Standing now before her, was not Naruto-sensei, the weird and all around goofball of Mahora academy, but Naruto-sensei, the teacher possibly wise beyond his years and one who has a deep sense of understanding about his own life and how he refused to give in.

Ayaka was not sure what to say to her sensei, but she somehow felt compelled to apologize.

Just before she could open her mouth to say something, a scream was heard that eerily sounded like Negi's. Naruto, for the first time in Ayaka's presence, laughed heartily.

"Well, looks like Negi couldn't handle the scare factor. Let's get this over with and see how my cute little kohai is doing." Naruto mentioned and Ayaka pushed the thoughts of apologizing to Naruto some other time.

When they finally made it to the main attraction, Naruto was instantly laughing that he clutched his stomach in pain.

"DON'T LAUGH! I'LL KILL YOU!" Evangeline shouted.

"H-how can I help it? You try so hard to be scary that you look cute instead of terrifying your customers! Maybe I should go back again and pay the others so I could see you again!" Naruto pointed and laughed once more at Evangeline's expense. The little girl was shaking with fury as she restrained herself from summoning another axe of thunder from slamming on the blonde.

Ayaka paused for a moment and shook her head. Perhaps Naruto was more mature and to an extent, can give out much more life lessons than Negi, but he sure can be mischievous and much more childish than Negi as well.

"When I get out of here, the first thing I'm going to do is shove a spear to your gut, Uzumaki!" Evangeline threatened as Naruto waved at her with a laugh while walking towards the exit.

When he made it outside, Konohamaru was scratching the back of his head and was profusely apologizing to the class about making Ako faint. As another token of apology, Konohamaru promised to go to their concert.

"Real smooth there, Konohamaru, I never thought you would go back to your pranking ways when you were ten." Naruto mentioned with a sly grin, the brunette simply glared at his master before he retorted.

"And you aren't?"

"I'm not denying that, am I?" Naruto asked grinning from ear to ear as Konohamaru scowled.

"I just got bored." He said, Naruto simply replied with a grin.

"Right, you got bored. Tell me, are you feeling relaxed in Mahora?" Naruto asked. Obviously there was something going on with Naruto's head. Konohamaru replied with a question to the blonde.

"Why? What does that have to do with…?"

"Just answer the question." Naruto quickly interrupted with an irritated expression. Konohamaru answered him truthfully. He looked away from his master and turned back to the class members who were doing everything they can in managing the haunted house. Konohamaru sighed and sat down on the floor while Naruto leaned against the wall.

"In truth, I've never had this much fun in my entire life. I know that this is just a temporary thing set up with the dean and that eventually we'll be leaving as soon as you discover a way for us out of here. But regardless, it's going to be hard telling them our goodbyes."

'_I'm sorry Konohamaru, but you're probably going to stay here for a while. I've dragged you far too much with my problems.'_

"We'll be staying here a bit longer than I imagined then. With some things recently coming up, I can't come up with a seal right now to take us back." Naruto decided and Konohamaru suddenly stood up, eyes wide from Naruto's statement.

"What are you talking about?"

"There are a lot of things I need to do before going back. Some loose ends need tying up and I don't feel like leaving them undone." Naruto mentioned vaguely at this as he went away.

"Where are you going?" Konohamaru asked and Naruto shrugged at his apprentice's questioning.

"Somewhere fun, if you ever have some sort of problem, there are clones here that are in disguise. You should be able to identify them when you see them."

* * *

Northern Point:

"Yosh, Neji-kun, today is the day you will taste defeat! Prepare yourself!" A boy with a thick set of eyebrows and a bowl cut, clad in a green jumpsuit a green flack vest, bandaged arms up to the elbow, and orange leg warmers, declared and pointed directly to another boy with straight black hair wearing white loose fitting clothes and some sort of sash on his waist. The boy was simply glaring at the Bruce Lee clone before accepting the challenge.

Most of the spectators watched and quickly noticed how composed the other boy was as he entered into his stance before he spoke, "Then come at me, Lee! Let us see once and for all just whose youth burns brighter than most!"

Everyone had a bead of sweat falling from the back of their heads.

* * *

South-Eastern point:

"Yosh, Kakashi, my eternal rival! I challenge you to a match!"

"Huh? You say something?" The person in question asked but his attention not focused on his book anymore as the other Bruce Lee clone shook with fury.

"KAAHHH! My eternal rival is so hip! Very well then! Let us decide this match with a game of charades!"

Needless to say, nobody would be able to confess their feelings in this place not with that Bruce Lee looking person kept pestering the one with the mask.

* * *

3-A's Haunted House booth:

"I'll take note of it." Konohamaru said before going to the infirmary. He had heard Negi was currently resting there and he felt like he could use the nap as well. Last night was one hell of a roller coaster. Maybe a nice nap would be the perfect thing to make him relax.

As Naruto headed to Chao Bao Zi, he couldn't help as his features darkened. He knew it was risky, but it was time to confront Chao about the whole mess. He might be going against Negi's word, but he needed to know just how much Chao knows.

Konohamaru:

Right now, Konohamaru had just had the pleasure of seeing Negi who was talking to the library trio when obviously Negi was standing right here with them.

Negi had pointed out the obvious loudly but was quickly silenced by Setsuna who dunked the boy's head behind a large mascot.

"Just what happened?" Negi asked obviously confused, trying to make sense of why it was ten in the morning when his cell phone had indicated it was eight in the evening.

Setsuna, ever the composed girl, had stated on what she observed about the issue.

"I don't exactly have enough proof to state what really happened since there has been no magic like this ever recorded to have ever been achieved."

Chamo quickly added his conclusion in to the matter, "Most likely, we've travelled back into the past for a few hours with some sort of time machine."

"Then that would explain Negi standing over there. We accidentally created a paradox." Konohamaru stated, hand on his chin and thinking rather deeply.

An important factor to remember about time and space Ninjutsu was, no matter how many times people try, a jutsu to send people back in time was impossible. Peering into the future was the only thing that could even remotely resemble a way to manipulate time and that is where the limits end. A time and space Ninjutsu only lasted for Nano-seconds and even then it takes a huge chunk of chakra and a ridiculous amount of requirements or at least for any other person not Uchiha Madara.

If a jutsu existed like that, then there's a high chance that many people would be scrambling to get into the past and do things that they wanted to a future that would suit to their liking, a nightmare of the worst kind.

But this? This was something only science fiction nuts could only dream to have. A way to actually travel through time! Granted, it was only for a few hours back but it was still amazing!

"I-I want to go to the period of the dinosaurs!" Negi exclaimed, his eyes shining with mirth and wonder of the device lying in his hands.

Konohamaru and Setsuna shook their heads at this while they watched Negi. He was still a child after all.

But he had to pause for a moment there. The machine that sent them back through time was a gift coming from Chao, the person that Naruto told him to be careful with. He knew he couldn't use it just like that. There might be something in the watch and Chao's gesture that would have another motive than just being grateful.

"Just giving it away has already been suspicious enough, though. Something like this should have caught on the interest of the research institute. I doubt that Chao would suddenly give something like this out of the goodness of her heart." Konohamaru voiced out and Setsuna had to agree with the brunette.

Negi, however, looked like a kid on Christmas Morning as he held the watch in his hands.

"This is wonderful! How can you not trust your student? With this, our problems are solved!"

The boy spun around and held the item in his hand high.

"Why are you spinning around so happily? Have you been infected by the idiots in our class?"

That brought Negi out of his reverie as the voice of his master pierced in his ear as if his alarm bells started ringing. He turned his eyes towards the source of the voice and sure enough, there stood Evangeline wearing a very frilly dress with Chachazero by her side.

Evangeline's eyes were trailing from the boy's expression down to the item he had been hiding in his hands.

Evangeline smirked, "Well, well, well, it feels as if you're hiding something from me. Could it be that item in your hands is the thing in question?"

Negi fidgeted and started sweating bullets, he was already stuttering.

"O-Oh, no, this is…"

Evangeline's smirk grew, "Hiding it makes it even more suspicious. I feel that there's something powerful inside."

It was then that Evangeline's features turned intimidating on to the boy, "Hurry up and hand it over. What's the matter? I won't take advantage of it."

Negi could feel that the vampire was lying, and just to add fuel to the fire, Chachazero helpfully added, "Negi's possessions are master's possessions and master's possessions are master's possessions."

That did it. Negi sprinted away as Setsuna and Konohamaru in his wake all the while screaming apologies to the vampire.

Once they were gone from Eva's sight and came to a consensus to look for Chao, the quartet had managed to bump into Naruto who was looking at the stands left and right, apparently looking for someone as well.

"What the- Negi? I thought you were taking your time resting at the infirmary?" Naruto asked in obvious surprise as Negi, Chamo, Setsuna and Konohamaru all appeared before him. The blonde then turned his attention to Konohamaru and asked a question.

"Didn't I just talk to you a few minutes ago, Konohamaru? I specifically remember that I hindered all your Jutsu capability since last night."

Chamo, Setsuna and Konohamaru looked at each other and then looked back at Negi as they somehow contemplated if they should tell Naruto about the strange predicament they were in. They all looked at each other and nodded. It would be safer if someone like Naruto was informed of the situation as well.

"I'm sure Naruto-aniki has no problem keeping secrets. If anyone can keep them safe, then it's him." Chamo vouched in confidence for the blonde and they all looked serious as they began to talk.

A few minutes later, Naruto was raising an eyebrow at their explanation and the quartet all looked sheepish at it.

"Okay, fine. If it makes you feel better, I'm looking for Chao as well." Naruto finally said and all of them looked flabbergasted, well probably except for Konohamaru.

"Just like that, you'll believe us?" Setsuna asked incredulously while Naruto was grinning.

"Well, you guys have no reason to lie to me, so why should I suspect you all as hiding something fishy?" He then added, "Anyway, since you guys came from the immediate future and I have no way of telling who's who, I suggest you put on distinct costumes as disguises, you never know just who might recognize you if they saw you together with the recent past you wearing the same uniform." Naruto told them and pointed to the costume shop. Chamo looked like he had something planned ahead.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that a bunny suit would be cute. To children, it is a common rule that they wear a full bunny suit with a hoodie that had two long pairs of ears at the top.

But to girls in their late teens or so, it's different.

Or that's what Chamo's logic is.

To him, a girl's curves are wasted on modest clothing. If they have a hot body, then there was no reason to hide it!

Setsuna may only be fifteen but she had a nice pair of creamy white legs. Or so that's what Konohamaru thought. For Chamo had insisted she wore a very revealing bunny outfit, showing off her thin and creamy white thighs.

"Hey, Konohamaru, nice get up!" Naruto said with a grin that clearly said he was mocking him.

Konohamaru glared at the boy and gave a simple middle finger before turning back to his two companions with the same costume. The boy looked like a furry dressed for business, a Victorian era suit but with the coat being red, complete with a top hat, a monocle, a pocket watch and a rabbit's snout with whiskers. The brunette looked like a rabbit anyone can find in a children's novel.

Needless to say, Naruto would never let him live this down.

"By the way, Naruto-nii, why are you looking for Chao? Didn't you say last night we needed to avoid her?" Konohamaru asked, curious as to what Naruto really did want.

"I need to know just how much she knows about us." Naruto said and all traces of a smile left his face as they walked and began searching for Chao. Both of them were unnerved by that fact. Chao leaked information, in their home, that was as dangerous as inviting another nation to war.

"T-That place looks suspicious!" Negi pointed to an attraction that had a flashy sign above that said, 'Galaxy War'.

Naruto had an expression on his face that clearly said he didn't look convinced as did Konohamaru. Setsuna chastised the two as Negi being a child so they let this slide.

"Yeah, but does he have to give such a bold faced lie like that? I mean, with that Time Machine of his, he pretty much has all the time he needs." Naruto said before entering the main room.

Once they got out Negi was sheepishly scratching his head while muttering, "Well that was fun, but she wasn't there at all."

"No shit!" Konohamaru shouted away before kicking a rail out of frustration. The resulting action bent the metal bar and caused Konohamaru an aching foot, forcing the boy to jump while Naruto pointed and laughed.

Negi's expression turned serious when something had caught his attention. He frowned and pointed to the next attraction.

"That place looks suspicious!"

Konohamaru's eyebrow twitched while Naruto sighed.

"You know, Negi, why don't you just be honest and tell us that you want to have your fun before your date. You don't have to get our hopes up." Naruto commented dryly as Negi looked rather sheepish as he looked quite ashamed at what he did.

"B-But… Who knows? Maybe Chao-san really is inside it! And it's not a date!"

Naruto shook his head before flicking Negi's forehead. The boy in question grimaced and winced at Naruto's gesture and looked like a child who was just scolded.

"What do you take me for, Negi? I'm not THAT much of an idiot." Naruto commented as the child looked sheepish at what Naruto said, but still persisted that they continue their 'investigation of suspicious places'. Not that Naruto could ever have the heart for letting Negi be a kid once in a while, he just found it irritating that Negi would use poorly made excuses.

The group, except for Negi, finally sighed in resignation when the redhead excitedly pointed out to the blimp. Naruto sighed at this once more and he asked Negi once they got into the airship, "What so special about someone who can fly take a ride on this?"

The airship then took off slowly, and they watched in mild fascination as the blimp took off. When they got into a fairly reasonable height, Negi had answered, his eyes never leaving the scenery before him.

"It's not the same when I'm flying on my staff, I don't have to concentrate when I'm in here, and the wind doesn't have to get into my face." Negi said, marvelling at the picture perfect view below them.

Setsuna watched Negi's expressions, looking rather marvelled at everything around him. Chamo had stated once that Negi never had the chance to go to any amusement park and be a kid.

"Naruto-nii, are you alright?" Konohamaru asked while the blonde in question had his back turned from the viewing area, hugging his legs and shivering.

"I-It's just… It's my first time riding something like this in the sky and I don't have any particular attachments to it. Can we please go down now?"

"What? You aren't afraid of falling several hundred meters below but when taking a ride with something like this, you chicken out?" Konohamaru asked and the blonde vehemently denied the accusation.

"NO! It's just I don't particularly have any sort of liking to it. The truth is I hate it! Now get me down!" Naruto shouted as he was close to having a breakdown.

Setsuna, rather than looking concerned, was now giggling as she watched the scene unfold.

"What's the matter, Setsuna-san?" Negi asked, looking at his student who was now watching the two ninjas that were arguing.

"Nothing, it's just that it's quite rare for us to be enjoying something like this."

Negi looked thoughtful for a second and then agreed to Setsuna, "Now that you mention it, I guess it's true."

"It's so calm that I get to enjoy the festival, and it's all thanks to you three, Negi-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei, and Naruto-sensei." She said with a smile. Both master and apprentice stopped arguing and then looked at Setsuna who had a sincere smile on her face.

"Thanks to all of you, I've managed to talk to Konoka-ojou-sama and be friends again with her along with Asuna-san. You have my eternal gratitude. Negi-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei and Naruto-sensei now all have special places in my heart." Konoka bowed deeply at the trio as Konohamaru scratched the back of his head and looked away, a look of embarrassment present on his face.

Naruto shakily waved his hand with a wry smile and refused to even stand up.

"I-It's not really us who you should be thanking though, Asuna-san helped as well."

Setsuna shook her head and answered, "But if you haven't opened my eyes, I would have forever been blinded from the things I deemed precious in front of me. So, I'm really happy that I got to meet all of you."

"Y-Yeah, look, I'm really happy that you're thanking us and all, but please, let me get DOWN!" Naruto said as his eyes were slowly starting to water.

Ever the lewd and perverted rat, Chamo was quick to ruin the scene with a comment, "No matter, how I look at it, it's sort of like a love confession. Though with Setsuna is confessing to all three boys at once."

"You're imagining things, Chamo. Setsuna isn't some girl that would have the audacity to go after three boys at the same time." Konohamaru mentioned in a deadpan voice and Setsuna vigorously nodded her head in agreement. The ermine simply grinned even further.

"But she said that you have a special place for those three in your heart." Chamo reiterated and this time, he made a kissing gesture much to the chagrin of Setsuna.

"O-Of course they have a special place in my heart! Negi-sensei is cute and Konohamaru-sensei is very reliable! Not to mention Naruto-sensei is a very mature person despite his behavior! Besides, I only have feelings for Konoka-ojou-sama!" Setsuna vehemently defended herself this time, unknowingly digging deeper and deeper to her grave.

Chamo grinned, a wide, stupid and an all knowing and shit eating grin.

Negi asked her directly, "So it's like that, eh?"

Negi was looking oblivious to what Chamo was pertaining to but somehow, he was looking at it differently than what Setsuna had thought.

"Y-You don't have the right to say that, Negi-sensei! W-Who do you like more, Asuna-san or Nodoka-san?" Setsuna asked and Negi suddenly took a step back at that question.

"W-Why are we changing topics?" Negi asked as Setsuna took this chance to corner the redhead.

"Then who do YOU have feelings for?"

Naruto lectured Setsuna, albeit rather weakly at that, "S-Setsuna, don't pester a kid about things like this. Y-you should know better, Negi doesn't have a full grasp of what kind of relationship you're talking about."

Setsuna then turned to Naruto and pointed at him, "Then who do you have feelings for, Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei?"

"I'll answer you when we get down on the ground." Naruto replied feeling queasy.

"Err are we talking about as in love? Well, I don't think I have any sort of feelings for any of my students. Of course, they're all cute, but then it's not really appropriate, teacher-student relationship and all." Konohamaru said offhandedly.

Konohamaru had to ask himself why a lot of people disregard that ethical subject.

"I-I need to go to the toilet!" Negi was immediate on trying to get away in the awkward situation. He did _not_ want to answer that question.

"Well, somebody sure looks happy." A new voice interrupted them, and the three seasoned warriors turned around to face Chao, still wearing her Chao Bao Zi apron.

Her smile never wavered. That didn't help ease the anxious feelings that Konohamaru and Naruto were currently feeling.

"So how does it feel to time travel, ne?" She asked, Setsuna however, looked unsure.

"I felt that you needed to experience it yourselves so I put sleeping pills in your tea, though I never expected Konohamaru-sensei would tag along for the ride. I apologize for what I did." To this, she bowed

"She put sleeping pills on your drink too, Konohamaru?" The blonde asked his fear of the blimp was overtaken with this new event. Konohamaru shook his head.

"Not everyone has your stamina, Naruto-nii. I was just too tired and felt like I really needed some rest."

Now the time for questioning began. Konohamaru was about to ask a question when Chamo beat him to it.

"A time travelling spell… No matter what kind of genius you are, a normal human cannot succeed in making any means to travel through time! Just who are you, Chao-san?"

"You want to know my real identity?" She asked, everyone who was talking to her had noticed a small spark in her eyes, as if they triggered something from the girl.

"I am a woman of mystique and wrapped in a veil of many identities!" She started as he pointed to herself before she continued, "Sometimes, I'm a Chinese inventor full of mystery, a treasure box inside class, or even a mad scientist!"

"I can be the number one genius of the academy, and the boss of the most popular Chinese stand, Chao Bao Zi!" By this time, Chao had removed her apron and tossing it upwards.

"My real identity is…"

Konohamaru, Naruto, Setsuna and Chao all leaned closer to the girl. This was it; Chao was going to reveal her true identity. The quartet, metaphorically speaking, was all at the edge of their seats as they listened intently to the girl before them. If Chao was about to reveal who she was, then at least it could have a chance to learn of the girl's background even if it was just a small summary.

Anticipation, climbing up, Naruto listened in closely with wide eyes as Chao took a deep breath and shouted at them.

"… An alien from mars!"

"Like hell, you are!" Setsuna shouted in indignation, swatting Chao's head with a paper fan from out of nowhere.

Naruto simply had a bead of sweat at the back of his forehead as did Konohamaru, although the brunette was the one who spoke outward, "I listened intently for something like this?"

"Well, there are a lot of things in your class that puts it on the weird scale above any other class here. You've got robots, Ninjas, mercenaries, vampires, half-demons and even spirits. And technically, Konohamaru and I are aliens that aren't from this world. So I guess it kind of goes without saying that we really shouldn't be surprised by now." Naruto consented to them as they all sighed.

"That's right, aru! Naruto-sensei agrees with me and their aliens as well, my kindred!" She then approached Naruto and Konohamaru and hugged them both. Then like a child who got praise, Chao pointed to Setsuna with that 'I'm better than you' look. It was childish, though, so Setsuna saw no reason to be angry at her classmate. She was weird enough as she is.

By this time, Setsuna was the next to ask a question her hands inching slowly on her pactio card, by now, her eyes were sharp, showing her distinction to her resolve, "What is your real intention? If you betray Negi-sensei's trust, then I simply can't forgive you."

Chao taunted Setsuna once more, "When you try to threaten people in a cute costume, it really looses the intended appeal, you know. Though, it does suit you, ne."

This time, Setsuna did react, although a blush was present on her cheeks, "Shut up!"

By then, Chao had laughed and quickly assured the group that she had given the watch to let Negi simply enjoy the festival, though she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't betray Negi's trust which was something Naruto and Konohamaru didn't look forward to. That was already a warning sign.

Chao, who had by then noticed Naruto and Konohamaru tense reactions, simply sighed and leaned back. "I can tell by your faces that you're really concerned, Naruto-sensei, Konohamaru-sensei. But rest assured that whatever it is your thinking, I don't exactly know. Fellow aliens have to keep very good secrets after all!"

She said this with a reassuring smile before she continued, "Besides, Negi-sensei is related to me, in a way, he's a very precious person. I won't hurt him."

"Are you certain of that?" Konohamaru asked. The brunette's eyebrow was raised in doubt. Chao gave a simple nod.

When they finally landed, they all went to say their goodbyes (Chao handed over a manual to Negi about the time machine as well) until only Chao and Naruto was left behind, promising to Negi that he'll catch up. With that, Chao asked the blonde teacher something, his back was turned against his student.

"Sensei, have you ever heard of this strange tale?"

Naruto raised his eyebrow, "What tale?"

Chao closed her eyes, and a smile crept up to her face as she told him, "I remember my mother telling me this story when I was a girl."

She then began her tale, "There was once a group of three people, bound together by sad memories of their past. They were an odd bunch, a quiet boy, wise beyond his years, reformed from the darkness that he once came from. A man, who willingly chose himself to be a sacrifice even if it meant being hated by the people of his home and a boy chosen to wield the burden of the entire world on his shoulders."

Naruto's eyes widened as Chao continued her story, "They were bound by these things, each understanding the other to a mutual friendship, bonds baptised in flames. In their time, they went by and did many great things, good deeds that saved everyone. They had a view of the world unlike any other, for they saw both the ugliness and beauty in which they reside. They roamed the lands, doing good deeds to simple villagers, ventured from one country to another unopposed. They fought demons and evil mages, slew beasts of great power in a time of unknown plight. They were heroes, men of valor and inspiration. In the end, after they slew the beasts, they vanished, said to ascend to a plain beyond mortal reach. As their tale drew to a close, the boy who carried the burden of the world left behind a relic for the people to remember them by."

She then held out a book, black in covering pages with the words written on the hard bound cover, "Advent of Three."

"In this book contained every single deed, accomplishment and journal logs of the three heroes, given to the son of the Thousand Master and passed on to every descendant that has come of age."

Naruto suddenly felt his blood turn cold as Chao inwardly grinned seeing the boy's surprised expression. Now, she only needed one more push to get Naruto's complete attention.

"Many of the people consider the existence of these three heroes as a myth, thought for aggrandizement of the house of the Thousand Master's descendants. But the lore is indeed present, and this book is the proof of that. Sensei, do you know who the author was of this very old relic?"

Naruto felt the color of his face draining as he kept staring at Chao, his knees buckled but held firm to the ground he stood on. He was afraid of what answer it might be but he just had to ask.

"Who wrote it?"

"The Scarlet Tempest, Shinku Arashi, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

To be continued…

Done and done!

You might be asking, why would Naruto write about it in a document in the near future?

Well, that's a very important plot point I will address in the far future, so be sure to check this back if you get confused when I do address it!

Also, check out my Fairy Tail/Naruto crossover titled, "Crossing the River Gates: Rubicon's Flow" and Big three crossover, "To Be a Hero"

Please be sure to leave a review!


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